On The Road to Perdition
by Nazraana Ambereen
Summary: AU! Reina Potter had gone to her last battle with Voldemort, fully prepared to die with her enemy. So when, instead of Death's finally claiming her soul, she wakes up to find herself in another dimension, in a child's body among a power-hungry clan. She does what she knows best. She adapts. And wrecks havoc. After all she should be used to impossible things happening to her by now.
1. Unknown Anomaly

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the copyrights, I didn't create them and I make no profit from this.

**Warning:** _**Major AU! Crossover! OOC MoD FemHarry (Reina/Rei), some (if not most) OOC characters, drama and angst, and an even darker universe ( it is not for the faint of the heart .. I'm trying to portray shinobis realistically as merciless murderers and emotionless tools not as wanna-protect-everyone antiheroes), underage, violence, swearing, drug w/ alcohol addiction, humiliation, slavery, Dub-con, Non-con, genocide, patricide, suicidal tendencies, gore, major and minor characters deaths, betrayal, torture, mind-rape, brainwash, PTSD, incest, reverse-harem, femslash, slash, cannibalism, religious themes (demons, you see ).. and all other disturbing themes that I'm sure some of you won't be able to stomach.**_

Some of these things above will not happen (not to the main characters anyways), but they will be heavily _implied_ and _mentioned. _If your expectations were of a story to cuddle up to without graphic descriptions of some of the warnings prior list, then this will not suit your tastes in the slightest.

So if any of this bothers you, there is always an exit.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

**Pairing: **Unknown as of yet.

**Note:** This is not beta-ed, I'm currently looking for one. With little time to extensively check each chapter many times over, mistakes are inevitable.

**Warning for this chapter**: Slight language.

**.**

**. Enjoy!**

**.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

. _Anomaly: noun._

. _Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected._

.

.

She felt the exact moment her soul left her body.

The Avada Kedavra hit her soul with all the force of a thousand tsunamis, and even as she felt her body topple to the ground, a dark satisfaction coursed through her as she saw her own curse hit the Dark Lord and not a moment later he let out a bloodcurdling scream before starting to disintegrate into _ashes._

_Serve the bastard right for everything that he had ever done_, she thought viciously_. Now if only I had taken Dumbledore down with me, I would have been _ecstatic.

Not even a fraction of second later, an excruciating pain blazed through her body, her heart, her mind, her magical core, _her everything_. Magic swirled inside her, as a wild vortex threatening to consume her, and yet _yet .._

Something was wrong.

A hazy foreign thought fluttered through her mind ..

_The Master of Death will not die._

It was not her own.

.

* * *

.

She did not know why she was here.

She _wasn't _supposed to be here.

As she observed quietly her little brother trying (and failing) to grasp a lock of her ebony hair, she wondered what exactly did she do to deserve this sort of fate. And to think she actually saved her world from an egomaniac dark lord bent on destroying it, fate ought to thank her and send her on her merry way. But of course not, I'm Reina bloody Potter, she thought depressingly, The Girl who. Just. Won't. Die.

She sighed as she set her baby brother on her left hip, proceeded toward the kitchen and started to look for something to feed the starving boy. Her 'parents ', she snorted at the term, were currently at a clan-meeting and wouldn't come back until evening.

Even now, she pondered her decision to stay with her 'clan' and couldn't help but wonder the consequences of such endeavor.

Hmm, you'd think gaining her Kekkai Genkai would have alleviate a bit her difficult, demanding life, you know, make it a bit more uncomplicated but no –god forbid anyrhing normal happen to her- things are never ever easy.

Not now, not ever.

How demoralizing.

It all began seven weeks ago when she woke up screaming from the sensation of her eyes being torn apart in a foreign room, a foreign world and with foreign parents.

And damn if that didn't permanently scar her.

Upon her scream her mother (_how did she know it was her biological mother howhowhow_ ) burst in her room (why did the door slide and was it made of _paper_? Of all things to focus on- ), and promptly froze, wide eyes filled with shock .. and is tha_t fear_? As she stared unblinkingly at her five year old daughter trying to shatter her vocal chords. At that moment, Reina stopped screaming, flinching away from her mother as her eyes blazed into _red red sharingan_.

Her Oka-san fainted.

Naturally she followed.

.

.

The second time she woke up, the urge to claw her eyes out of her sockets was gone, instead only a vague remain of an ache lingered.

She opened her eyes to a foreign room. Again. For a moment she hoped it was a simple strange dream in the afterlife. And then she recalled that dark haired woman-

_What the.…?_

Where am I? She thought uneasily, this is different.

'This' was her room. And yet it was not.

Recollections, not her own _definitely not_, trickled back in her mind and then she _remembered._

_My name is Uchiha Rei. Five year old. Eldest daughter of the clan head, Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha. Born on 31 July. Hobbies : reading, gardening and playing with my younger brother, Itachi Uchiha. Still an Academy student in Konohagakure no Sato. Got third highest grade. My rival : Anko Mitarashi. No friends-_

When she eventually became aware of her surrounding, memories _(notmine notmine_) were still slithering through her mind, reminding her of a life she never lived but that she _will_ start living.

.

This _is wrong, wrong-_

.

As she slowly opened her eyes, she felt, more than, saw her father (_a hard man_) sitting quietly next to her futon staring at her, she met her regard unflinchingly just as whispers faded in her mind.

_Rei .. unworthy .. should have been a boy .. not strong enough, not fast enough, not smart enough, not _Uchiha_ enough, never never enough .._

.

She blinked at him.

He did not blink back.

She turned her eyes away and surveyed her room warily. It was hers, undoubtedly. Writing utensils, messy desktop and random story-scrolls everywhere. Clothes strewn hazardly. A simple and boring room with nothing much. A bland room for a blank girl.

She felt disoriented.

A sharp voice cut through the cold silence, making her head snap toward her_ Otou-san:_

"Rei, did you or did you not activate your Sharingan?"

Straight to the point as always (not even a _how are you feeling _or_ are you alright_), judging from the doubtful and scornful look on his face, he was probably expecting a 'no father, it was an accidental genjustsu.' (Never mind how a supposedly weak daughter might have been able to cast one with such efficiency on her chunin-level mother).

And because somehow, Reina Potter had been reincarnated as the supposedly weak clan heiress of the prestigious Uchiha clan, one who seemed to be only a scapegoat for her father's disappointment and a subject of pity and disdain to her clan members, it was only natural that she decided to repay the favor to her _family_.

_Tenfold._

"Hai, Otou-san. I activated my Dôjustu last night and accidentally cast a genjutsu on Oka-san in unconscious self defense. My_ deepest_ apologies."

She didn't know how those words were coming easily to her. Dô sharingan. Genjutsu. Or even what they really meant-

The answer slammed into her mind-

_The Sharingan (__写輪眼__, Literally meaning: Copy Wheel Eye or Mirror Wheel Eye) is the dōjutsu kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan that appears selectively among its members. Ability: The user can see chakra, giving it colour in order to distinguish-_

_Genjutsu:_ _Genjutsu (__幻術__, Literally meaning: Illusionary Techniques) is one of the main jutsu categories which uses chakra-_

-before she wretched herself away from the whirlpool of her memories. She resisted the urge to clutch her head in pain when she noticed her father carefully watching her.

While it was true the fact she didn't belong (when did she ever ?), she knew better than to show her family that apparently their clan heiress wasn't who she was supposed to be. Her battle-honed reflexes were screaming at her to eliminate the threat before her but she resisted the urge to slit her Oto-san's throat with a well-placed Sectumsempra.

God, she sounded like Snape.

_._

_Whatever happened_, because she _was _supposed to be dead, _happened for a reason_ and while it was quite unfortunate that she had been reborn in an another dimension (a parallel world?, strangely the thought of her unexpected rebirth wasn't as frightening as she expected; weirder things had happened, her being a Horcrux for instance ), it was nothing she couldn't work with. At least, until she found out who was responsible for her current predicament and make them _pay_.

Unless it was Fate playing sadistically with her. Again. Then well, she could only hope there was no immortality-seeking snake-man with delusion of grandeur hiding somewhere, waiting to kill/maim/torture her.

.

(Months later, she would come to contemplate the irony of her statement.)

.

She blinked, almost lazily, at her Otou-san and felt him bristle.

This is going to be interesting.

Well, if she did learn anything from her last world, it was that you always make the best of any dire situation. In this case, it was _I'm alive_ and_ I won't go down without __**fighting.**_

.

After her rather blatantly insolent answer, her father (and she was using the term loosely) had drilled her for details (why, how, when?) so from what she remembered (or rather from what her former self remembered) about the conditions of activating the Sharingan, she managed to craft a semblance of explanation, though it sounded way waay off : she tentatively explained that she had had a nightmare in which she died,_ literally_. And yet she didn't wake up but persisted in trying to live in her dream, following that, she had felt mind-breaking pain and _something snapping in place like a door unlocking or a key sliding in its rightful place –_and something wasn't quite wrong but not quite right-then she woke up to find her mother staring at her horrifyingly. And her eyes feeling like fire being branded into them.

Surprisingly, there was a bit of truth in her propos. Even if it sounded a bit sappy .. and stupid.

To say the least, her father had not been satisfied. Or convinced. But he didn't show it; she had the distant the feeling that he was planning to investigate. She would have to be careful the next few days.

.

"_Why did you subjugate your mother to a genjutsu then?"_

_She raised a brow at him:_

"_I didn't recognize her at that point. I felt threatened. "_

_He narrowed his eyes at her. Then he nodded stiffly._

"_It was an acceptable defense."_

_That was probably the closest compliment she could get from him. Nevertheless he was impressed even if he hid very well._

_She cocked her head at him and patiently waited for his interrogation to finish._

.

Well, it could have gone much much worse, she surmised. She had almost been afraid that they would find out that something was not quite right with her and that she might be an impostor (well technically, she was but well, details details ) so she was deeply relieved when her father simply decreed that from now on her training regimen would be modified to suit her newly gained dôjutsu.

From what she had vaguely understood from her not-quite memories, she had always been something of a weak child (Hmm, apparently getting third place in the academy is an unacceptable weakness. Go figure). Constantly following her mother around and exhibiting an alarming lack of interest toward the shinobi arts, that made her something of an outcast. Her mind was sharp and clever but she consistently wasted it on good-for-nothing stories. That and _the' goddamned flowers that she kept gathering'._

But the biggest disappointment was the fact she was born _female_. As the clan heiress, her position was already fragile but with her lack of aspiration to make the Uchiha grow stronger and greater (apparently it is simply unforgivable to any other purpose in life), she had been on the edge of disownment.

But now that she activated her Sharingan, her father didn't seem to consider her as a failure anymore and told her rather bluntly that he wasn't going to take no for an answer by making it clear that she would train thoroughly and diligently in the ninja arts regardless of her opinion.

She didn't quite like the sound of that last part.

.

* * *

.

The first time she saw herself in a mirror, she had been admittedly surprised. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see; but she knew she _was _expecting to see _something_. Something to show that, no she did not belong regardless of what anyone thought, that she was an unknown anomaly parading as one of the inhabitant of this world..So to find out that her appearance hadn't changed much or that she hadn't spouted some extra appendages (you never know with these reincarnations) was .. surprising. Relieving too.

As she inspected herself, she noticed that there were similarities _and_ differences compared to her original younger self. No scar on her forehead. Thank Kami for small mercies. Same vibrant green eyes, too big for her face. Same long black hair with hints of blue in it, except there wasn't, thankfully, a bird nest on the top. In fact it was smooth and silky with a slight wave on the edge. She approved. Next, her skin was pale (no longer tanned, shame on you, Fate) no, more like a porcelain white. That reminded her of china doll. She scrunched her eyebrows at her thoughts: she did_ not _look like a doll.

She was rather short for her age, but she was hoping for a growth spurt in her teenage years. Well, if she ever reached her teen years.

Now, now Rei, don't be so pessimistic, she chided herself, of course she would reach her teen years, her adult years too. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

Just because I died at the youthful age of nineteen doesn't mean it would be the same case here. Of course not. Fate wouldn't be so cruel to kill me so soon… God, she sounded pathetic. But it was also true. After all, there was a reason she was sent here, she assumed and she was sure it was more to do with that horcrux still inside her than anything else. She grimaced slightly, watching her reflection in the mirror deform and distractedly activated her Sharingan. Quite an ugly color, that red.

She sighed. As she deactivated her dôjutsu, she wondered whether there was any long term side effects on her eyesight. She didn't particularly trust this kind of power. Too easy, too alluring. There was a catch. There was always a catch.

She blinked again. And wondered.

Obviously, there was a purpose on her presence here. Hell, there might even be some kind of fucked up prophecy concerning her poor self. But she doubted it. She couldn't be that unlucky .. could she?

Besides, exactly what was she supposed to do? She was all fine and dandy with living with her family and training daily (she would get used to that military regimen… eventually). She was even fine with growing up here in Konoha, forging connections and relationships. And making sure that bad people (bad nin in this case and she was using the term relatively) stayed the hell away from her home. Sure she could do that.

Then what?

Sooner or later, she would need to deal with the probability of people finding about her magic. While it wasn't detectable by bloodline limit, physical manifestation of her magical would be .. troublesome. Such as her unprecedented ability to heal exceptionally fast and her inner perception of everything alive around her, things like that couldn't be hid. Less lied about.

.

Because she was first and foremost a _witch_. A _grey_ one.

Meaning that she would eventually start practicing magic. Both light and _**dark.**_

.

The war had changed her irrevocably. But if she was to be honest, the starting point had been Cedric's death. Regardless of what anyone thought or claimed, she never believed it wasn't her fault. If only she was stronger, faster, smarter, more informed, more powerful … none of the events at the graveyard would have happened. There had always been the possibility of things going the right way if she had been properly prepared. And properly _ruthless_. Even now, she had always regretted not letting Sirius killing Peter Pettigrew during her third year at Hogwarts. So many things could have been avoided… Sure his alibi would have been lost and his gain of freedom delayed but she was sure with her support as Lady Potter, Pettigrew's fresh corpse and an extensive investigation would have, over the long haul, set him free.

That, also, could have prevented Sirius' death. The Dark Lord's early revival had sped up events despite her diligent training during her fifth year. Back then, she had been consumed by anger and bitterness so she had set out to learn everything she could. With Dolores Umbridge as her DADA professor, it had only solidified her determination to train.

She read every book she could get her hands on so she could train rigorously but she focused mostly on offensive and defensive spells, elemental magic (it had been considered forbidden but she hadn't cared, it wasn't dark so where was the harm?), and wandless/non-verbal magic.

The Occlumency studies with Snape hadn't been fruitful. And his unwillingness to even_ listen_ to her, had deterred her from really giving the branch any real attention. So she hadn't bothered.

It was a mistake she would regret for the rest of her life.

.

The night she set out to save Sirius had been the night of many Firsts.

It had been the first time she had ever listened to the Prophecy. It had been the first time she had ever tortured /Bellatric Lestrange/, it had been the first time she had ever battled other dark wizards (a full drawn out battle with her life on line), it had been the first time she had been possessed (she would never forget the _coldcold _feeling of Voldemort_ literally_ inside her), it was also the first time she had ever .. killed.

She could remember it with a startling clarity. One of the few events she could make out from the blur in her memory of that night, besides Sirius' death (she could never _never _forget that, it would haunt her for the rest of her miserable life).

It had been some lowly bloodthirsty death eater, he had sent her an Avada Kadavra and it had brought her unwanted memories _(CedricCedricCedric_). Something inside her had just _snapped_.

And before she was even aware of what she was doing, she had materialized ice spikes from behind him and she_ just_-

.

Oddly enough, she had felt .. nothing.

.

It had been either his life or hers. Kill or to be killed. The survival of the fittest. _Nothing personal_.

It was probably during that moment that she figured something wasn't quite right with her line of thinking.

The adrenaline still coursing in her had barely left her system before she had been forced to dodge a double attack from Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. That was when Sirius joined her-

Everything had gone downhill from that point.

She wasn't sure what happened. One minute she was viciously battling Malfoy Senior with a certain exhilarating feeling that only come from fighting worthy adversaries alongside her godfather and the next_he_ was gone.

She had been devastated.

Even now, she still hadn't gotten over his death.

.

Sirius had offered more than anyone thought he did. It wasn't just the possibility of being accepted, of having a family, of being loved, of knowing that there was finally_ finally_ someone who would take her away from all her pain and sufferings at the hands of muggles and wizard alike.. It wasn't only that.

He had offered_ hope_.

And for that she had been ready to fight tooth and nail for the right to stay with him.

And now with him gone .. she had just lost a part of her self. One he had taken it with him when he passed through the Veil.

When they finally came back to Hogwarts, to Dumbedore's office, and when she heard his explanations and justifications and excuses-

She had lost control.

Her magic had been _beautiful._ A wild storm violently tearing through everything that happened on her path. She had destroyed the Headmaster's office. And she had felt satisfied.

A special kind of cruel satisfaction that only come through the knowledge of what magic could do if given the chance.

.

That was the moment when her interest in the Dark Arts had awakened.

Some might believe that she had automatically become a dark witch upon her introduction to the dark arts. Others might think that the war had played a large role to her transition from a light witch to a dark one. But she knew the moment that damned prophecy had chosen her as the savior of the world, had been the moment when everything had been set in stone for her. She had established from that point on that she would do everything in her power to eliminate the Dark Lord. _Everything._

And if it means dabbling in forbidden magic, altering her ways, her methods and damning her soul in the process, all to protect her family, her friends, her home... then so be it.

After all, the one advantage of playing with fire is that one never gets even singed. It is the people who don't know how to play with it that get burned up.

And she wouldn't only learn how to play with fire.

.

She would_ master_ it.

.

* * *

.

She broke from her reverie. God, it had been so long…

She sighed. This was pointless. She might as well go and do something productive instead of lamenting over her past and ... current situation. Like reviewing kanjis. Those are a pain in the neck. Might as well get rid of this task before her father came home.

It was kind of nice to have mundane worries like homework, chores and whatnot. She felt like a genuine five years old that did not have her body haunted by an old soul.

Wait a minute…

Her eyes widened brusquely. And she jerked violently from her seat on her futon.

Did that mean that she was really_ possessing a five year old? _Like .. like what_ Voldemort did to her?_

She felt bile climb out her throat-

Alright, alright Rei calm down, don't freak the fuck out, there's gonna be some kind of logical of explanation-… Kami, I am _possessing a five year old girl._

She hadn't really given a thought before. And she couldn't help but admonish herself quite violently; a bit more and she would start bashing her head against the wall.

How could she possibly forget that reincarnations do not come with _bodies already ready for use_?

She had to be reborn. Literally. With her head coming from her mother's uterus and all that stuff.

Except she wasn't. She was just thrust into this poor girl and-

And what exactly?

The only theory that come to her only mind (and she wouldn't accept anything else because any other theories are _terrifying_) was a soul_ merge._ Somehow her soul had merged with the girl's one and managed, quite miraculously, to not self destruct. That explained the _souvenirs._

The activation of her Sharingan too. Somehow.

After all, she _did_ die. And the stipulation for its activation was a life-threatening situation. A soul merge is pretty threatening, in her opinion.

.

.

.

Well, damn.

.

.

Mikoto Uchiha... is meek.

So far, she hadn't been particularly impressed by the lack of backbone her mother displayed.

Unable to stand to her husband, unable to act on his behalf either, she was such a … sheep.

It wasn't that she disliked her per say, it was just since her new training program began there had been times where she just wanted to exterminate people.

And her mother had been one of them.

These last days, she has been coming home body battered and bruised, pushed to the extreme and on the verge of snapping. At anyone.

To add insult to injury, her mother had been avoiding her since her awakening. She scoffed inwardly; a mother unable to confront, comfort or affront her only daughter isn't what she'd call an ideal mother.

Again, it wasn't that she disliked her. It was just the deep feeling of wrongness that her family inspired in her whenever she found the time to contemplate their behavior that made her wary of them. No not just her parents, the whole freaking clan.

Or maybe it was just her.

Besides that, she just couldn't shake the feeling that her mother wasn't always so disgustingly obedient to her counterpart, whether before or after her marriage.

If it wasn't for the fact that she had been closely monitoring her parent's interaction, she would have thought that her father was abusive. After all, her Oto-san wasn't exactly.. the nicest of men.

Understatement of the fucking century.

Another thing she had been consciously avoiding was the hint of .. emptiness in her mother's regard. It wasn't exactly healthy, she didn't even think her own mother is aware of it. But that didn't change the fact that her mother had lost the core of her self. Or rather, she's so used to her current life that she started doing everything on autopilot.

But now that her daughter had introduced something new and life changing into her life, her mother was starting to … rouse. For the lack of a better term.

She wondered whether brainwash is permanent. Because she didn't think it was.

She had vague suspicions about that too but she was withholding judgment until she found some more proofs of her theories.

Hopefully sooner than later.

To sum up, she'd say she was pretty disturbed by her parent's antics.

Well I'd consider that fitting to a freak such as me, she thought cynically.

And wasn't that ironic.

.

.

.

Now to come back to her schedule, the training program set for her was _pure torture_. And it was only getting worse.

The first days after her 'Awakening', her Oto-sama had wasted no time and started waking her _at dawn_ to run a fucking _hundred l_aps around the Uchiha compound. Fun-fucking-tastic way to start the day. Then kunai and shurikan practice, her hands blistered and bled after the first dozens tries which ended in failure. (Try to jump, whirl around _while_ _upside down_ while throwing dangerously-sharp weapons at targets more than fifty meters away).

She could still remember the thin line on displeasure on her father's face. Well fuck you too.

She hadn't stopped throwing the damn things till at least she reached at least a good number of correct throws (which was at least eighty on hundred) hoohooo take that, fucker.

The childish feeling of victory was shortly squashed when she learned that her father wasn't quite done with her.

However once her father deemed himself satisfied –after her wrist almost broke due to too much strain, to be more precise-, they moved to basic taijutsu, no correction _, intensive_ basic taijutsu.

At first it was less or more fine, doing katas could be almost relaxing if one could ignore some of the impossibly flexible moves she was forced to perform.

But of course nothing was easy with Oto-san. Ahem_. Oto-sama._

Soon enough_, too_ soon in her humble opinion, he demanded a spar from her to evaluate her level. _I'm five goddamn it_, she had wanted to scream at him. Instead she just gritted her teeth, corrected her defensive stance and proceeded to try and beat her father. Key word_: try_.

To say the least, it was absolutely pathetic.

He had wiped the floor with her. Three times. With eyes closed.

But if she wanted to be honest, she'd say that if it wasn't for the ex-war on her original world she wouldn't have been able to dodge half of his attacks or at least lessen the force of the impact of some of his punches.

Well, a good thing come out from the wizard's war, she thought gloomily, she had a survival streak, fast reflexes (thanks to you too, Quidditch! ) and an exceptionally sharp intuition. Well besides the scars, that is.

At noon, they ate the bento her Oka-san made with all the love all loving housewife hav_e. Read the sarcasm_. Soon enough they resumed their activities and thankfully her father decided it was enough for the physical part. It was time for chakra control.

That was when she discovered what had been bothering her for days. Her inactive magic had been replaced (or was it converted, she wasn't sure) with chakra. No, she rectified herself, _a part_ of her magic, not all of it; thank goodness.

The two hour meditation before the actual exercise enabled her to survey the exact state of her spiritual energy. Magic and chakra seemed, so far, to be co-existing rather peacefully however she was also acutely aware of the fragility of her inner balance between the two entities.

Things are stable. For now, she had thought back then.

Cheers to you, deity slash fate slash death, for making me more of a freak than I already am.

And that had been it.

When they did eventually start on her chakra control, she found herself pleased to find out that she was making a rather fast progress.

Tree walking, water walking .. had come to her naturally, as easy as breathing.

Her Oto san had been grudgingly impressed. But also suspicious.

So to settle him, she chirped cheerfully :

"_My Sharingan helped greatly in these kind of exercises."_

That seemed to convince him.

For now.

.

* * *

.

Her little brother was the cutest thing she had ever seen so far.

As he tried to tug one of her locks down (her hair was getting rather long, mid back already, maybe she should cut it?), she wondered whether it was illegal to kidnap her one year old brother and go live somewhere far far away from this place.

As his big black eyes met her green one (a mutation, the med-nin claimed, perfectly normal, happen time to time from too much in-bred; just because she didn't get black eyes doesn't mean she wasn't an Uchiha, her Sharingan was proof enough), she thought again on what she knew of her cute little Ita-chan.

.

First of all, he was a prodigy.

And that was exactly the problem.

.

She was under no delusions of jealously or envy, she didn't care whether he could already talk and walk at six months, that his vocabulary is richer than hers, that he could crawl on water or even that everyone seemed to see him as the reincarnation of their prodigal ancestor Madara Uchiha.

What did she care about is the fact that his future isn't looking too bright at the moment regardless of what anyone thought; she wasn't stupid: she knew already that the path for her Otouto had been already set. And they certainly aren't planning to give him any choice or break. 'They' are the clan elders.

At the thought of them, she gritted her teeth.

The old scheming hawks had another thing coming if they thought she was letting them manipulate her baby brother. She knew they're going to suck the life out him, like the bloody parasite they all were; always asking for _moremoremore_ .. Till Itachi would become nothing but a shell of his former self.

She had been lucky; so far her status as a female seemed to deter their interest in her. But since she activated her Sharingan, the geezers have already started planning: she was to be married to Shisui Uchiha. Her Sharingan was too precious to go to waste: her progeny should have a ninety percent favorable possibility to receive her Dôjutsu. _Like hell I am. _She had plans and none of them involved getting married at the age of eighteen. And even _if_ by some miracle she_ did_ decide to marry, it would be by her _own choosing._

Her Oto-san seemed so far to be only focusing of making her the best of the best. _La crème de la crème _of shinobis. And the only reason he hadn't started training Itachi immediately despite his prodigal mind was because he was still too young.

She didn't exactly know what the clan Elders had in store for Itachi but she knew it couldn't have been anything good.

It was a bit morbid for her to think so; she reflected; but she knew their kind; know how much expectations could crush an individual, how they never see beyond their own gain, how the illusion of choice they give was but an_ illusion_ .. Her poor Itachi is in for a rough life but if she had any say about it, she would make damn sure he could at least have a happy childhood.

.

It was the least she could-

.

"Aneki, you have that look again in your eyes."

She blinked, not quite getting what he said but then-

"Oh?" A smile curled up on her lips; strange how Itachi could read her so accurately, at times it was almost .. unsettling.

"Hai, like you're going to do something very mischievous and .. very bad. "Itachi stated in all his childish seriousness.

She leaned back on the tatami, and observed the koi pond they were currently sitting next to. She was glad her Oto-san had given her a free afternoon to relax … Hahaha who was she kidding? If it wasn't for the clan meeting currently held, she would still be tearing her hair out in trying to figure out how to follow the Uchiha-styled taijutsu her father had pushed onto her. He was trying to incorporate some moves in her Academy-taught taijutsu. _Uchiha_-moves. She let out a deep sigh. The headache that was waiting for her…

Her little brother was sitting on her lap and regarding her attentively; as he always did. He had developed a very odd fixation on her, she thought fleetingly. She, at last, answered with a smirk:

"Now, now Otouto you really think your dear innocent Aneki would dare do something bad?" Her teasing tone did not go unnoticed and he answered appropriately:

"Actually, Aneki, you will do worse."

Plastering a hurt expression on her face, she pouted:

"Ne, just because I had some … ah … naughty thoughts, doesn't necessarily mean I will follow through them." And with that, she blinked at him with big innocent eyes.

He wasn't fooled as he continued to gaze at her unflinchingly.

.

Really, is he two (and a half, he insisted to add) years old? Because she doubted it.

Another strange thing she noticed was .. well .. Itachi seemed to be subconsciously aware that his older 'sister' was different. Not quite the same anymore. And yet he hadn't said anything. He hadn't gotten suspicious of her per say, just .. wary. A bit like his sibling had gone on a long eye-opening travel and had come back .. changed. Different. A tad .. darker. He probably didn't know what happened to her but he _felt_ something _did _happen.

He hadn't shared his thoughts with their parents, either. Which was a good thing; because she had the vague feeling they would believe his claim over hers, even without proof.

That was probably the cause of his fixation on her. He was unconsciously analyzing her; comparing her former self with the current one and obviously found that there was something not quite right with his dear Aneki.

On the other hand, he hadn't displayed any hostility; so she took it as him accepting her. Even if he doubtless didn't know what or_ who_ he was accepting.

Hmm, that or maybe he was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

He had good instincts this one, she thought with mild fondness.

As the sun started to set, he perked up slightly and turned around to observe the sky in that same quiet contemplative gaze he seemed to regard.. well.. everything.

"Nee-san? "

"Hn." To think, she had caught the flu of Hn-ness of her relatives. Oh the horror.

"Do you dislike our clan? "

The question was so unexpected she snapped her head to look at her brother, with clear surprise. So he did notice…

She mulled over the question and considered the many ways she could answer. She didn't really want to lie to him, but telling the truth would complicate things unnecessarily.

"I just believe that the clan is currently focusing on the wrong … priorities." She paused and then continued: "You see, Itachi, sometimes what you believe is rightfully yours and when you set to obtain it at any mean, regardless of the sacrifices engendered or whether the price is too _high_.. that might just cause your downfall. "

She wasn't blind; she knew that feelings of hatred and greed had been festering into the Clan's roots. Since Hashirama Senju's election by Konoha population for the Shodaime title; things had always been tense between the Uchiha clan and the village. And with the defection of Madara Uchiha then the nomination of Tobirama (another goddamn _Senju_) as the Nidaime, things hadn't gotten better. In fact, it was only a matter of time before the situation became ugly.

"Like what? " His solemn voice broke her away from her musing and she glanced down at him, to find him staring at her with a single-minded intent.

"Power." She eventually said. It was always always about that damned thing. "Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best. You should always remember that, Itachi."

So far the situation is precariously stable. They wouldn't dare going against the village without a good reason but... she had the suspicion that the catalyst for the situation to degenerate, was close.

Indeed, it was only a matter of time.

_**.**_

_**.**_

* * *

_**Author's note **_:

Thank you for reading. Those who had gotten past the warnings at least ;) so far things are pretty much light now but the more the story progresses, the darker it becomes. So you just know I will put warning before each chapter, so heed them in case there is something you won't be able to .. bear.

The reason I started this story is because, frankly, honest-to-god, Kishimoto _sucks _at writing female characters. Seriously, you just can't find a kick-ass female character that wouldn't be cut down size later (coughTsunadecough). Coupled with my obsession of FemHarry, this monster of a story emerged.

I mean, what would be like if Harry is a woman. Who lived through a devastating war with far reaching consequences on her psyche than anyone thought. A character like Harry (or Rei in this case) who finds herself in a male-dominated world of Shinobi. The sort of changes and_ implosions _she'd cause will be a delight to see (and yes there's a reason I used that specific term ;).

The reason for her impromptu rebirth, her status as MoD, the horcrux still in her .. will be revealed in later chapters. Since it is an integrated part of the plot, I can't really say beforehand but there will be hints here and there if you manage to catch them.

If there are any grammatical, vocabulary or typo mistakes, I apologize. I'm not a native speaker or even a second-language speaker, my English is bound to be quite faulty.

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	2. Bridge The Gap

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry potter.

**Warning for this chapter**: Slight language.

**Note**: Unfortunately, not beta-ed.

**Enjoy!**

**.**

**Chapter Two**

_._

_ . Gap, noun_

_ 1 . __A break or hole in an object or between two objects_

_2 . An unfilled space or interval; a break in continuity_.

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The first time Rei met Shisui Uchiha, she thought she was having a relatively good day. Or as good as a day could get, anyways.

She had been at a nearby park, coaxing Itachi into getting onto a swing so she could introduce him to the joys of a playful childhood. Instead, she received a particularly insulted look from him. If he hadn't been so cute –frowning like a hamster and simultaneously glaring at her like a wolf cub- she would have felt offended. And here, she was actually spending time with her Otouto, instead of going to train like she ought to be. You'd think he'd be a bit more grateful… and a bit more accepting of her ingenious ideas ("what's wrong with playing hide-and-seek with Oto-sama?" "Absolutely nothing, except a suspicious lack of self-preservation. _Nee-san_"). The nerve.

So really besides his unfortunate view on 'fun', she was actually having a relatively good day. No strict Fugaku breathing down on her neck, for starters and nothing possibly life-threatening to spoil her good mood (besides, since she had discovered the wonders of dango this morning, nothing had gotten her down from cloud nine). So naturally, as things tended to go wrong with her, one way or another, her good day was coming to an end.

In the form of an impolite four years old brat.

.

"Oi, you, the girl with the creepy green eyes." She felt her eyebrows twitch, the girl with the _creepy_ eyes? Someone seemed to have a death wish. Her eyes were the only thing she really liked concerning her whole appearance. She would have hated it if she had been born with black eyes. Green, green was her color. The color of her mother's eyes. Of untainted grass. Of the death curse. It was _hers._

She had been crouching to her Otouto, the later who had been stubbornly refusing to let her pick him up. So when she heard a particular nasal voice speaking in a most insulting tone, she jumpily got on her feet and whirled around to confront-

A brat.

Correction, an_ Uchiha_ brat. That made all difference.

Scowling, she glared down at him. He was around her age, a year or so younger than her. He got those typical Uchiha black eyes and that unmistakable look. Of self-importance and the _'I'm_ _better than thou'_ vibe. Ha, she was going to have fun knocking him down a peg or two.

She smiled pleasantly at him, a sweet-saccharine smile that often made her teachers and classmates swoon. Slightly taken aback, he regarded her warily then he opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him-

"Didn't your parents teach you not to speak to any strangers? I might be a serial killer waiting for the opportunity to kidnap a lost boy, one just like you, and whisk them to the land of monsters."

"You're a five years old girl." He deadpanned.

"Iie, I'm a five years old _shinobi_. Nuance." She sneered at him, mildly annoyed. While it was true she was a nineteen years old woman stuck in a child's body, that didn't mean she hadn't got some bouts of pettiness and mindless banter here and there. Pettiness that often expressed itself under a sharp and cutting tongue. And brats that seemed to think they could bully/insult her without consequences were in for a rude awakening.

"You're still an academy student. Don't get ahead yourself." He rolled his eyes at her and plopped next to her still-observing Otouto.

"Doesn't mean I can't stick a shuriken to your forehead if you keep pissing me off." She momentarily paused; maybe she shouldn't issue death threats to underage boys. That's not .. polite. Not good for her reputation either. Who goes menacing kids these days? She ought to stop.. _Oh well, I don't care, he started it_; she thought childishly; not quite able to help herself.

Her brother, silent so far, wisely decided to speak:

"This is Shisui Uchiha." He regarded her warily expecting her to react at the name. At the blank stare she gave him, he sighed quietly and continued: "…. Our third cousin, twice removed."And your future husband, but he didn't think they would react favorably if he chose to reveal that small tip of information.

However, Rei finally recognized the name and exclaimed:

"You're _Shisui_ Uchiha?!" She was promised to this .. _brat? _Why_, Kami, what did I do deserve this kind of punishment_? She thought inwardly in slight despair. She grimaced, all the more to find a way to avoid a marriage. She knew she was being harsh. I mean, he was still a kid and he wouldn't keep such an annoying personality once he grew up but still..

Actually, she veered. He might just become _worse._

"Yes. And you're Rei Uchiha. My _rival._" He declared it with such seriousness that she, for a second, believed him. Then the meaning actually registered in her mind and she promptly burst in laughter. God, that was the most hilarious line she heard in a while. A four years old declaring himself as the rival of the Lightening Sorceress aka Vanquisher of the Dark Lord. Oh the irony. In a quiet corner in her mind, away from the hysterical one, she thought horrifyingly: What is the world_ coming into?_

"What?" Looking like he swallowed something sour, he glared at her.

Itachi decided to clarify:

"She thinks you're delusional."

He bristled instantly. As his scowl darkened, he pointed a finger to her and loudly proclaimed:

"Just wait, I'm gonna beat you. With or without the Sharingan! And you will be sorry you'd ever laughed at me."

She stopped brusquely. And narrowed her eyes at him. _So this is about the Sharingan, huh? Should have expected no random_ _kid will accost me without a good reason…_ She recognized the glint of envy in his eyes; he probably got wind of her newly-activated Kekkai Genkai and decided to check for himself. Whatever he was seeing, was probably not what he was imagining. _How predictable… _

Rei Uchiha had never been something or someone extraordinary. Above average in an academic level, maybe yes. And the clan heiress, certainly. But she had never gotten out of the norm to stand out from the rest of her clan members, despite her influential status. Her lack of shinobi-derive had also ostracized her and made her something of an outcast in her clan. That was probably why she was regarded with obvious scorn and derision. The original girl, she wasn't sure how to call the former inhabitant of her body, had always been someone quiet, respectful and distant. Mindful of her manners. Cold, like most Uchiha. But it wasn't a coldness bred from self-importance or disdain of the others. It was one acquired from wariness and suspicion. The girl had also some very serious trust issues. All thanks to the clan.

So for her to be one among the rare ones who managed to activate the Sharingan and at such a young age, it had thrown the clan for a loop. It must have been a shock to witness the often-undervalued girl gain effortlessly what others would_ kill_ to have.

'Is it true' He paused warily and glanced at her brother then at her, wondering whether he should continue then decided to proceed anyways 'that you subjugated your Oka-san to a genjutsu?'

Her smile froze. That … was not something she wanted to discuss with anyone. Less an ill-mannered brat. To be completely honest, she had no clue what she had casted that day when she awakened; her mind had been mostly focused on trying to handle the pain that had been blazing through her eyes and skull. She had assumed that her magic, in instinctive self-defense, had done_ something_ to her mother but that wasn't until her father had confronted her that she figured out that the accidental genjutsu had been triggered due to her bloodline limit. But what was shocking was the fact it had been powerful enough to induce an instantaneous unconsciousness in her _adult_ mother. No matter what anyone else might think, she hadn't done it _on purpose._

She_ did _feel guilty as her screams were the ones who brought her mother to her room in the first place and the later had only wanted to help her suffering daughter. In fact, after her father's questioning, she had, without further ado, apologized to her mother in the most chastened tone she could manage.

However, peculiarly enough, her Oka-san had acted like nothing had happened and assured her daughter that nothing was wrong and that she didn't blame her. She would have probably believed her a bit more if her hands weren't shaking slightly and if she hadn't been paying so much attention to her mother, she would have missed the flash of fear in her eyes.

Feeling dismayed, Rei hadn't lingered long enough and came back to her room. Sure, being subjugated to a genjutsu must have felt awful but did that entail treating her daughter as one might treat a walking bomb?

_My freakishness knows no bounds_; she had moodily thought back then. _And the_ _people around me seem to persist in rejecting every form of aberration concerning me …_

To say the least, the amount of frustration she had felt had been mind-wrecking. And to think that was only the first day of her 'awakening' …

Even now as she contemplated how to answer her Uchiha cousin, she still hadn't gotten over the sting of betrayal. She probably never would.

So when she did eventually answer-

'Hai, it's true. Why? Need a _personal_ demonstration?' She snapped coldly at him.

He cringed slightly, sensing the underlying threat. And took a step back, then realizing what he had done seconds later, he defiantly advanced toward her in a mostly-confident manner. It would have been almost cute seeing how bravely he was attempting to hide his apprehension, if he hadn't been currently stepping in her personal space.

Grimacing slightly, she glared frigidly at him, expecting him to _back off_. But he only continued, not heeding her silent warning, till he was nose to nose to her then-

'I don't care about whether you're very strong now and able to cast genjutsu without hand-seals. I will get stronger then you _will_ acknowledge me as your strongest, most awesome, unparalleled rival.' He stopped short, out of breath. Then added forcibly: 'I am not delusional'

She sneered slightly: 'That's a lot of adjectives you're using .. Are you sure you know their meaning, gaki?' Good god, what are they teaching kids these days? To gain enemies before gaining friends? A sure way to get killed, she thought mildly, her mind flashing back to her politics lessons with Snape. The brat ought to try and make an ally out of her, not to antagonize her in such a ridiculous manner. She _was_ the clan heiress, after all. She paused; did she just involve a _four_ years old kid in a _hypothetical alliance_?

She sighed. Kami, she needed a drink.

Seeing that she was ignoring him quite blatantly, Shisui did the only thing he found logical at the moment. Which was reaching out, snagging a silky black lock -he had the satisfaction of glancing the widening of her admittedly (he would never ever admit it, even under pain of torture) pretty eyes while distractedly noticing the horrified look Itachi was sending him- then he tugged. _Hard._

To say the least, it did not end well.

.

* * *

.

'I was _defending_ myself. As far as I'm concerned,_ he_ attacked _me_.'

They were both sitting on the tatami in front of Fugaku Uchiha, Shisui nursing a bruise on his cheek and a black eye courtesy of a punch delivered by his unknowingly- future wife while the later sported … nothing.

He scowled darkly, he hadn't managed to land a single hit on her while he got his ass handed to him on a silver platter; the taste of defeat was sour on his tongue and if it hadn't been for Itachi breaking the fight between them; he was sure his face would have become an unrecognized mangle by now.

Pouting slightly, Shisui glanced at his … rival. If truth to be told, he hadn't wanted to anger her or even alienate her from him. He had been simply trying to attract her attention (though, calling her eyes creepy was just mean and untrue .. because they were very pretty; a bit like those green jewels his mother adored so much), in reality, at first, he had wanted nothing to do with her (his mother was always Rei-this and Rei-that, all because of that sharingan of hers), so he had disliked her before even meeting her (his mother would be_ so_ disappointed); so when he got the opportunity of getting acquainted with her and witnessing what was so odd and great about her for himself, he promptly jumped on it.

Although, he knew he had come off as a bit of an arrogant spoilt boy; he _wasn't._ Except maybe, when he wanted to rile up someone. And that someone just happened to be Rei Uchiha. Which resulted in a sore cheek and a black eye.

Admittedly, it wasn't one of his brightest moments.

He broke from his thoughts when her Oto-sama asked :

'Is it true, Shisui? Did you assault my daughter without any reason?'

He fidgeted nervously; if his mother ever heard about this, she might just bury him alive. He cleared his throat awkwardly just as Rei threw him a smug look that did nothing to improve his mood-

'Actually, Fugaku-sama, she threatened me with genjutsu.'

'What? I certainly did not do that. You _liar_.'

'Oh? So 'need a demonstration' was a bluff?

'That was a figure of speech. You imbecilic brat-'

'_Enough.'_

They both stopped abruptly as Fugaku's grave voice resonated, silencing them short. He regarded them contemplatively, a calculating glint in his eyes that did nothing to reassure Rei. The foxy old man was plotting; just wait any second now-

'Rei, you will apologize to your cousin then you are going to resume your training immediately; as soon enough, you will start ninjutsu practise; the academy will start in a few days and I expect you this year to graduate in first place. I refuse to tolerate any dawdling or idling from your part.. Is that clear?

'Crystal.' She answered stiffly. She had been expecting something-

'Shisui, I will speak with your mother this evening.' He paused then he dropped the bombshell: 'You will start training with Rei tomorrow on ward.'

'_What?'_

'No way.'

The simultaneously loud replies from both children were almost deafening. They both wore expression of shock (and in Rei's case, horror too) as the implication of spending more time than necessary with each other registered in their mind.

She _knew _it. He was plotting; otherwise why such an unexpected decision from his part? She might have believed it had to do with her future marriage but she didn't think so. He would have tried to force her to marry Shisui Uchiha regardless of her opinion; so the excuse to have them both acquainted in their childhood was void. Her suspicions heightened; what was the point in putting them together?

Shisui, in the other hand, didn't know whether to be thrilled or alarmed. Thrilled because he got to train with the youngest Uchiha to ever activate the Sharingan (while she was a bit harsh and he did feel a bit jealous of her, he thought she could be likeable and pretty cool if given the chance), or alarmed (because obviously, she was going to _crush_ him).

'But why? I do not need a training partner. I can-' Rei started to speak with a slightly annoyed tone but her father interjected briskly:

'Yes, you do. A good competition is exactly the missing key you need.' He paused then continued: 'I assigned a temporary teacher to you. I expect both of you tomorrow at seven am sharp on ground four of the Uchiha training compound.'

They were dismissed; Shisui, with a slightly dazed look, got up from the floor and without preamble, left.

.

Rei, however, stayed still and looked at her father directly in the eyes, then decided to speak in a casual voice:

'Oto-sama, is there anything I should know about this … partnership?' She forced herself to not glare at him.

Fugaku Uchiha regarded her for a long while; then when he did decide to speak, it was not to answer her question:

'I haven't been aware that your temper was so volatile, Rei. I was under the impression that you were not so easily prone to violence.'

_Shit._

She slipped up.

She had completely forgotten that Rei Uchiha disliked violence. She had just contradicted that fact by beating up her cousin –_shitshitshit-_ she should have dealt with the situation accordingly to her host's (there were so many things wrong with that term, she didn't even know where to begin) personality. Inwardly, she was banging her head against an imaginary wall. Outwardly, she managed to retain her self-control and answered in a cool voice:

'People change, Oto-sama.' She cleared her throat and considered how to carry on, there are many ways this could go wrong; she wasn't sure how to act but she needed to make a _firm_ stand …

Then a wild wild idea came up, it was risky and a bit blunt, and it would seem a bit hurried … but it would do.

She continued earnestly: 'I've become aware of my … short-comings since I activated my Kekkai Genkai; as such I decided to remedy to the situation by starting to react accordingly and by it, pursuing an active shinobi-carrier. And letting myself get' she looked for the right word searchingly then settled for:' bullied is neither a good way to start nor does it pertains to my new goals in life.' She paused dramatically then- ' I decided that becoming an Anbu operative would be my objective.'

Silence.

She had just implied that she was starting to change for the better and that she would take her training seriously enough to become the _strongest. _Meaning: ANBU is the way to go.

She hoped that it would be enough to dissuade him from looking too far into her. As she anticipatorily awaited his reaction, she confessed quietly to herself that there was some part of truth in what she just said.

He finally grunted in approval and inclined his head in acknowledgment in what she just said. Inwardly, she sighed in relief. She passed.

'I will expect you won't disappoint me in the future, Rei.'

'Never, Oto-sama.'

With that, she finally got up from her seat and proceeded toward the shoji. As she started sliding the shoji, her father's voice resonated:

'And Rei, next time, keep your temper _in check_. An Uchiha does not reveal _nor_ express his emotions to his adversaries.'

_Of course_ he had to have the last word.

'Of course, Oto-sama. Lesson learnt.'

And if there was a bit of sarcasm in her tone, well, he didn't say anything.

.

.

.

It wasn't until much later she realized he hadn't answered her question concerning his plans of Shisui and her.

She chuckled quietly to herself.

'_Foxy old man, indeed_.'

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* * *

.

She spent the rest of the afternoon training, and she was becoming pleased with the results after the long weeks of torturous training. Her speed and strength had vastly improved and her stamina was boosted. Her reflexes were impeccable as always and her chakra control was relatively excellent, she was even grasping the rhetorical concepts of ninjutsu fast enough. She wondered what her affinity would be.

When she had been learning Elemental Magic back in her world, she had been mostly focused on destructive elements. Contrary to popular beliefs, Elemental magic did not have to pertain to the caster's type of magic, personality or origins. For example, it had been widespread that fire-masters were quite impulsive, hot-headed and brash. That was not true; you certainly can find some of them that were calm and collected, the total opposite of their elements. As such, it was the caster who decided the type of elemental magic they wanted to learn. It had nothing to do with what or who they are. Magic is magic. Trying to limit its practice by setting conditions on what they should or not be able to learn was utterly ludicrous and absurd.

It was a shame it had been forbidden by the Minister.

Nevertheless, it hadn't stopped her from becoming proficient in some of them; she had spent her entire sixth year juggling between different elements until she deemed herself satisfied with the results. She was proud to say that she had mastered both of Fire and Lightening; the former had been for offensive measures but mostly for mass destruction as it could spread rapidly and efficiently; she had managed to take down the Malfoy Manor due to its devastating power (it had been during the chase for horcruxes which brought her to that damned place). Making it ever-lasting and non-extinguished by water had been one of her aims and still was.

As for Lightening, it… well.. to be honest, it had initially started out of a joke: her scar In the form of a lightning bolt had been the deciding factor. It had been amusing to thrash her adversaries with the same element that was, like, literally_ engraved_ on her forehead. It was something of a mockery to her enemy: she was the personification of lightning. It had become, eventually, one of her signature attack. Unpredictable and uncontrolled. She had been one of the few witches who could easily take down an entire army; considered by some to be equal to the Dark Lord. One of the reasons the war was so bloody in both sides was because, while the Dark Lord was unstoppable in his power-seeking delusion and massacre of the general population muggle and wizard alike, Reina Potter had also been able to reciprocate the violence ten times worse by being completely ruthless in demolishing whatever was standing in her way. And many did. And died.

Which eventually led to _their betrayal_-

_Stop it, Rei, don't think about them. Just. Don't._ Forcing herself to take deep breaths, she had to resist the urge to let her magic out, which would probably result in unnecessary wreckage.

Calming herself down, she sat on the ground and stared blankly forward. _Sometimes, it was so easy to lose oneself among memories_..

Her brilliant green eyes darkened; those memories were holding her back and all because- _t__hepastthepastthepast alwayssohaunting-_

She shook her head and got up; now was not the time to dwell onto memories. She needed to get back to the house, Itachi was probably waiting for her; and she ought to take a shower. She absolutely _stank._

As she trudged down the path to her home, she was distantly reminded that her Oto-sama was planning to teach her the clan's signature technique: the Fire Release Great Fireball Technique. She might ask him then if she could try the test to find about her affinities. While she didn't particularly trust how the whole business works, she knew enough that her chakra and magic were different and what would work for one might not work for the other. It would be good to know her chakra-affinities so she could start by training early enough on them.

Once she got the Fireball technique (she was sure she would, thanks to her bloodline limit and if not that then her past experience with the element), she would be recognized officially as an adult in the Uchiha's eyes.

She couldn't wait for it.

.

.

When evening came, and after a much-needed shower; she had been in her room sharpening her kunais (technically, she was too young to train with sharp ones but she didn't care all that much about that); Itachi next to her, was reading quietly one of the many history scrolls she possessed.

She glanced at him, mildly curious. She was sure her cute little baby brother would have preferred to spend time talking with her. To find him so intent on a single scroll was odd. Not that he didn't read, quite the opposite actually, he was quite the bookworm or maybe she should say scroll worm. The point is, generally, he always made time for her. As he rarely got to see her these days, he tended to seek her out whenever she was free.

Deciding that some teasing never hurt anybody, she leaned toward him with an amused smile:

'Ne, Ita-chan, does my company bore you that much that you prefer reading over dealing with me?' And for extra emphasis, she added a pout.

He flushed slightly and shook his head-

'Iie, Ne-san, you know it doesn't.' He paused and as his blush faded, he threw her a peeved look: 'Don't call me that.'

She blinked then unable to resist: 'What, _Ita-chan_?'

'Nee-san…'

She chuckled lightly; her Otouto was way too cute for his own good. _Is this how it feels to have siblings?_ She thought in slight wonder. She never knew it could be so … _warm_. Sure, she had considered once Ron and Hermione as her best friends but it was never more than a deep deep friendship that was often more than not interrupted by fits of jealousy and bitterness. So she had never considered them as brother and sister. Because during some moments with them, she had felt … cold.

And Dudley Dursley wasn't even worth mentioning. The last thing he could have been compared to was a brother.

Finally, Rei couldn't help herself: she just reached out to Itachi and, before he could react, she hugged him. Tightly. Itachi completely stilled. It was the first time his sister displayed such outward affections. Generally, she tended to tug one of his ear tails in fondness or smiled at him with genuine love. Nothing so touchy-feely. It was …oddly comforting. Yet there was also something of a poignant melancholy in her hug.

He didn't like it.

Mustering the courage to speak, he opened his mouth to ask why was she-

'Don't ever change, Itachi. Just stay the way you are. Always… Alright?' Her muffled voice in his hair was slightly broken as she spoke those words. There was a painful note in her tone that unsettled him. It felt like she was far far away from here. He didn't know how to react and even less what to say. So instead he followed his instinct and-

'I promise, Nee-san.' He murmured softly, wanting to bring back his Aneki from wherever she had gone to. Apparently, it was the right thing to say because he felt her smile against him.

Rei knew better how promises could easily break. How changes were bound to happen, inexorably. How the world, so cruel and yet so beautiful, could shape someone toward the best or destroy them in the process. She knew better than anyone.

And still, for once in her lifetime, she pretended.

She believed him.

.

* * *

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Shisui Uchiha was normally a pretty likable kid.

A bit expressive and goofy at times, but nothing that would possibly last among the clan Uchiha or the shinobi world (at least that was what his mother tried to convince herself with). His father died when he was but a two years old toddler, bravely fighting missing-nins and managing to take them down with him. A heroic death, one could say. Worthy of one of the strongest shinobi to have ever been produced by the Uchiha Clan. In fact, due to it, one could say that Shisui looked up to his father in more than one. In addition, Kagami Uchiha was one of the few Uchiha member who were completely loyal the village. As such, this patriotism had been inherited by his son in some degree.

Shisui had mostly gotten his looks _and_ character from his father. And while he liked to think of himself as someone who would follow his father's steps (become a strong shinobi and defend his village and Hokage-sama with all his might, minus the early death), he also had his own goals, which, in the mind of a young four year old boy, centered mostly upon how to possibly get acknowledgement from his newly-chosen (fated) rival, Rei Uchiha.

Things didn't look too good at the moment.

As he perched on a tree's branch overlooking the training ground, at 6:47 am, brooding on his predicament, he reckoned that, so far, nothing could be done unless he should, at least, apologize. This thought, however, only served to worsen his mood. He did _not_ want to apologize to Rei but he wanted to become good rivals (friends) with her. But his mother said that the later could not happen without the first (after of course getting the scolding of his life, his mother was not to be trifled with when it comes to manners).

_What to do? What to do..?_

As he pondered his choices, which weren't many, he was interrupted by a very familiar voice. One he wouldn't forget any time soon-

'Shisui Uchiha.' The barely controlled voice issued from beneath got his attention like no other, and as he peered down he came to face the glaring eyes of one Rei Uchiha, which at this time, looked like she was going to murder someone. Or torture them. Gulping slightly as he jumped on the ground, Shisui reasoned that this was the time when he ought to say goodbye to this good life. Maybe he would have enough time to write a will. He was going to miss his mother's food-

'I apologize.' The stiff voice made his head snap toward his cousin. Wait … _What?_

'Huh?'

Rei scowled at him, the barely bitten out words were stinging enough; she was not going to repeat herself. So she merely ignored him and flopped on the grass, waiting for her sensei and hoping Shisui would leave her alone. She was already developing a migraine by his presence and he hadn't even said a word.

The later, however, was not going to take this laying down so he sat exactly in front of her and let out the words he was so reluctant to say before-

'I'm sorry too.' He blurted out, feeling all shades of awkwardness. Then he continued without pause:' I shouldn't have said creepy, your eyes are not creepy, they're very pretty and I like them a lot and I was rude and petty and did not mean that but still you're my rival and I'm not-' He knew he was blabbering but he couldn't help himself. Why was he feeling so nervous? And confused. Because Rei did not look like she was planning to kill or maim him. In fact-

'It's fine, Uchiha.' Rei interrupted, amused. And surprised too. Maybe the brat wasn't hopeless after all. Opting for a pacifist route for once she stated in a careful tone:' I don't care, really. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?'

He slumped bonelessly, he had expected the worst. He wasn't really planning to apologize but when he saw her, he just decided to follow his guts and spout whatever had come to his mind at the moment. And it wasn't .. bad or humiliating. Apologizing, that is. Though, he realized something. Did he just call her _pretty_?

Feeling his cheeks burn, he looked pointedly at the ground and decided that the grass was currently looking magnificent-

'-shall we?'

He blinked, startled. And when what she just said finally found the way to his brain, he nodded fervently. Excitedly, he promptly forgot about his embarrassment few seconds ago and struck his hand in a formal greeting:

'Shisui Uchiha. Nice to meet ya.' He offered a needlessly blinding smile to her. Then he paused then-

'But we're still going to be the best of rivals!'

Entertained by his change of heart (but alas he was still living in a fantasy -rivals, _really?_-) and yet wondering whether she was doing the right thing, she hesitantly clasped his hand in a firm grip.

'Rei Uchiha. And we will see about that.'

And as they say, it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

.

.

Their sensei, they found out shortly after, was an old infirm man who was missing an eye. Toga Uchiha was a strict man of few words. And of, few and far between compliments too. He only indicated their faults and flaws in their stances and seemed rarely satisfied with their performance. However, he was patient and took time to explain carefully every concept they didn't quite grasp. He did not belittle or denigrate them; while it was true they were mere children they were also the future generation of the Uchiha shinobi. As such, he treated them with cautious consideration.

At the end of the day, they had relatively good time training under Toga-san.

Rei had been surprised at first when Shisui had joined her in her taijutsu katas; she had initially assumed they were going to be trained separately as she expected him to be below her in shinobi level. Obviously, not in equal footing.

So it came as an enlightening surprise when she found out that Shisui was good. Almost as good as her, she admitted, reluctantly impressed. Without her sharingan, his taijutsu was almost on par with hers while the strenuous shuriken and kunai practice had enabled her to see that he seemed to take his training seriously. He hadn't complained once. They hadn't started on genjutsu/ninjutsu yet (she was still waiting for the day her Oto-san would teach the Fire Technique), but it appeared Shisui was fairly interested as he was being quite enthusiastic about asking their sensei various questions.

Maybe, she thought in slight jest, he _might_ become my rival.

He wasn't a prodigy, but he worked hard and did not back down from any challenge. He showed signs of great promise as he was ready to face whatever comes his way head-on. To find such a strong determination into a four year old boy, one who should be still playing with toys and building sand castles in his free time, was remarkable.

He has the making of a Gryffindor in a Snake's den, she thought dryly.

And he also wasn't conceited as much as she expected. Coming from an Uchiha, it was something. In fact, his arrogance seemed subdued compared to the other Uchiha children.

It was a refreshing change, for certain.

.

Breaking from her contemplation of her new discovery, she finally noticed that the sun was setting. Her sensei was already gone and Shisui was picking up his kunais, scattered a bit everywhere. Turning around to face her, he smiled cheerfully at her and waved: 'See ya tomorrow, Rei-chan.'

And with that, he took off.

She was finally alone.

She glanced around and settled on the ground, without much premise. She stared at her hands for a while, calluses were starting to form and scars were a bit littered on her hands as they come from handling shinobi weapons. She flexed her hands slightly and considered what she was going to do.

But first …

She closed her eyes and stilled. Completely.

She expanded her awareness around her. No one close to her, so far. A few chunin at the edges of ground five but they were currently leaving. An ANBU passing swiftly from around ground seven. An avian summon floated lazily in the sky a few yards away from her.

If she concentrated more, she could feel minuscule particles of energy under her. Insects. Ants, probably. She could sense the slow deep breathing of the trees surrounding. The fleeting fragile life of a hummingbird nearby. The soft steps of a weasel disappearing under the cover a tree. Then the constant vibrations of the earth underneath her. Then deeper and deeper…

Violently, she propelled herself away from the temptation. It would be so easy for her to lose herself in the never-ending thrum of life. _So so easy, indeed_ …

She took a deep breath then opened her eyes as she exhaled softly from her nose.

Good, no one around, she might begin her experiment.

She grinned slightly. This was going to be fun.

.

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* * *

.

Or maybe not.

The stone, that she was trying to mold according to her will, did not obey. Again. Instead, it exploded. _Again._

Irritated, she let herself fall on her buttocks, and glowered at the offending pieces of rock. _Goddamnit. _What was she doing wrong_?_

During the last hour or so, she had been trying to get her magic to carry out small tasks, floating things or reshaping them. So far, the reactions she got involved things exploding, burning or scorching to the point of being unrecognizable. It was atrocious.

She had always being in control of her magic. The latter executing commands so perfectly it was awe-inspiring. It was wild and often untamed but it always obeyed and sought to please her. It never failed to come to her aid in the past and often more than not, her magic was the only thing she was sure she could always depend upon. Now, now …

She was reduced to _this._

She stared blankly ahead and tried to understand.

She could heal fast and could easily sense things far beyond her reach. Those were things her magic enabled her to do, even now. However when it comes to the practical part such as casting a simple spell or hex, her magic just … acted up. Manifesting in all the wrong ways. Flickering out, sometimes. Or misdirecting her spells.

_Something was wrong._

She had a sinking feeling that 'something' might have to do with chakra.

She clasped her hands again and focused on her inner core. Closing her eyes, she plunged deep toward her magical core bypassing a purposely-isolated black hole and tried to ignore its repugnant …_** presence**_ (maybe if she pretended _**it**_ didn't exist, it would go away … or something) then she attempted to reach out-

And promptly got entangled. Into … something.

_What the hell ..?_

Her consciousness –for the lack of a better term- was currently intertwined with strangely-looking streams of blue …chakra. If she could blink at it, she would have.

Trying to extricate herself from the chakra was … tricky. It seemed to have woven itself around her, like some kind of spider web; it was currently blocking her sight from her inner core but she could fairly sense the warmth coming out from her slightly unbalanced magic. In fact her magic seemed also to be accidentally brushing against the chakra beams, eliciting a spontaneous reaction whenever the contact was made. A bit like you drip water on fire. One trying to overpower the other. Or maybe eliminate. She wasn't sure-

And then she … understood.

She internally face palmed at the sheer stupidity she could display sometimes.

_Where is your brain when you need it? _She thought to herself, mildly aggravated. _Gone with the wind, probably._

Chakra was composed of physical and spiritual energy. That was channeled through chakra pathways created especially for it. It was regulated through the Eight Gates and followed a specific combination when activated. Chakra was released outside the body through pressure points called tenketsu in order to perform jutsu.

Magic … was not. It was an entity of her own, not bound to rules or limits. It circulated everywhere and moved from one spot to another sporadically. It didn't obey to the laws of nature nor did it try to conform to a general system. Wands are mostly catalysts. They were, contrary to popular beliefs, not the reason a wizard could cast spells nor did it serve as a restricting device. More like an aiding one. Wizards, unfortunately, had forgotten that particular fact and preferred to depend upon the easiness of the wand's use instead of harnessing the magic's strength. Well, the Minister had also contributed to that rule. But it was mostly their stubborn ignorance that caused their ruin. Basically, wands were unneeded in the grand scheme of things. Magic was probably the most independent form of energy you could ever find.

Now try to put it in a body where most of the energies, physical and spiritual, were restricted through precise means. Magic would try to react in the only way she knew. She would try to_ free_ itself. It wouldn't adapt, as she had herself to believe, it would try to_ annihilate_ the constricting chains, as an automatic response to anything threatening its autonomy, regardless of whether it pertained to her wielder's body or not. Which would result in a disastrous backfire.

_This is such an abysmal mess._

She wrongly thought before, that the process of her rebirth involved an innate fuse between the two energies. Or at least a partial one (something like mutual convergence, maybe). Something that would allow an interconnection to form, one that would indubitably assure a sustained trust in her magic toward chakra and vice versa.

Meaning now that she, as in herself, needed to_ create_ a link between them. One, also, that should be enduring and lasting, and wouldn't have the risk of falling apart under any kind of pressure.

Currently, it appeared as her magic's destructive 'side' was mostly dormant but once a dangerous situation –death experiences, she dubbed them- was called for the use of more devastating power…

She might not survive the backlash from the clash of the two entities.

_Damnation._ And she thought they were nicely cohabiting.

_What kind of shitty, half-assed work of a reincarnation was this?_

She needed to fix this. Thank Kami the other …_**thing**_ wasn't exacerbating the situation. It was a wonder she wasn't feeling any side-effects. Like, say, an excruciating pain in her mind, body _and _soul.

Add the fact she wasn't sure how exactly was she supposed to do this, with the risk of dying or worse potentially losing her magic (because at this point her magic was way more important than her irrational, fucked-up-in-more-way-than-one life; she wasn't even _sure_ whether she _could_ die or more like, _stay_ dead), and that she might just go blindly trying to usually fight her way through the thickness of her current predicament… Things were rapidly going downhill.

_Goddamnit._

She was fucked.

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* * *

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**Author's Note**

Things are light, for now that is. But for how long?

As you probably noticed, I'm not planning to make things easy for Rei. Life is an unfair bitch._ Especially _to a reincarnated one. And Rei is certainly not at the end of her troubles, concerning her magic _and_ new body.

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	3. Of Anchors and Assassins

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto respectively.

**Warning**: Language, violence.

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**Enjoy!**

**.**

**Chapter Three**

**.**

_"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I__would rather be__a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. __**I shall use my time**__."  
\- Jack London_

_._

_._

_**.**_

_Trees rustled, birds __cooed and the world around sang to the music of life._

_A shadow fell over the wide meadow, flowers growing in colorful bundles bursting through the brilliant shade of green grass. Fluffy trails of white clouded the blue sky above, and a bird soared before the sun, casting a long shadow down below. _

_It was beautiful, this graveyard._

_Viridian green eyes blinked up at the sky above them, silent. Black hair, a shade near a dark red in the light, splayed out beneath them. She let her eyes follow the clouds, and shut her eyes, letting the sounds of the peaceful meadow around her—of life around her, hit her ears. So contrasting with the almost permanent feel of death these days. Her gaze caught onto a chrysanthemum and she twisted so she would face it, feeling the deep old magic infused in it._

"_It's a beautiful day." A voice whispered quietly, softly, and she blinked, playing with the flower in her hand._

"_It is." She agreed, her fingers ran along the stem, all the way to where it disappeared into the ground; then added, almost mockingly. "As always."_

"_We should go somewhere."_

_She paused, her fingers pausing on the middle of the stem and then she decided to humor him: "Where would we go?"_

"_Anywhere you'd like."The voice was quiet, coaxing almost. "There is much of the world to see you know. Beyond war and death."_

"_Where there is humanity there is war." She answered derisively, her fingertips brushed the tip of the flower petals lovingly."There's none here."_

"_For there are no people."_

_A petal fell and she mildly frowned, letting her face rest against the grass. The voice was silent for a moment, and the air of guilt swirled around. A small self deprecating smile touched her lips and she shut her eyes. There was no getting around this it seemed. Perhaps he was right but…_

"_It doesn't matter where I go, as long as the prophecy exists, I would never be free." She said wistfully , though there really was no need. Her companion was more than aware. " You, more than anyone else, know how fate tends to twist everything to follow its purpose." The flower bent beneath her fingers and she paused, waiting for the voice to reply as she tested the strength of the stem._

"_You can just disappear."_

_The stem snapped._

.

.

It was dark by the time Rei figured out how exactly she was going to fix her predicament.

Her magic needed an anchor. One preferably linked to her chakra to form a strong enough connection to withstand anything potentially threatening.

In theory, it should be possible. She needed to coerce her magic into partially merging with a part of her chakra, preferably a chakra gate; and with that construct a hollow yet absorbing hybrid space where the possibility of her magic converging toward chakra and vice versa was feasible_. I should have paid more attention in Runes classes; they_ _might have come in handy. _She thought in slight regret. In practice, however, it might be a bit … tricky. Applying her purely-rhetorical knowledge in creating a meeting-point between two almost-hostile-but-not-quite entities might lead to … doubtful results. And by doubtful, she means catastrophic. Still, praying that whatever might happen would be hopefully fruitful, she set to work. Might as well try. She got nothing to lose, after all. Except maybe her life. Which, thankfully, wasn't as fragile as she'd thought before.

As deep as she was in the meanders of her magic plus chakra, she started by creating a small filament made of her magic. As she carefully inserted it in her chakra gates, she thought about her rebirth-state. Obviously, she wasn't here by hazard; someone or something had deliberately sent here in this ninja-populated universe. But whether it was for good intentions or bad ones that was what still stumped her. But then again Hell was paved by good intentions. If she was as naive as everyone liked to believe, she might have thought it was a second 'chance' to live. A merry life filled by good-natured friends, protecting her home and doing her best to beating up bad guys.

Ha, it's a shame life isn't always so_ rose._

Maybe she was being pessimistic and paranoiac but it was for a good reason. She hadn't survived a war by being idly credulous and boosterish; she knew there was always a price to this kind of things. Life hadn't been freely given to her without cause; there _had_ to be an asking price. And considering the fact she was reincarnated as the clan heiress of a renowned clan –why not some non-descript girl far away from this ninja-business?- told long on fate's machinations. _Nothing good for me, that's for sure._ For all she knew, she might be already playing in whoever-decided-to-fuck-up-her-life 's-this-time hands.

She pushed another filament in her chakra gates and watched it travel through the pathway system. It seemed to .. bump? Against the internal walls before disappearing. She inwardly frowned. Her magic hadn't seemed to merge with the chakra, it just dissipated. What was she doing wrong? _This is causing me a headache. _Feeling apprehensive, she decided to try something new. Forming a sphere near the chakra gate, she_ willed_ her magic to fuse with it.

The response was instantaneous.

Her body violently keeled over and she felt something rise through her windpipe-

Black blood splattered on the grass, tainting it in a crimson shower. She felt the metallic taste in her mouth as she heaved, breathing noisily through her nose.

_Shitshitshit-_

A bit more, she was sure, and she would have been torn apart. It seems that trying any kind of early merging wouldn't sit well with her magic. It would just keep rejecting the chakra as a foreign possibly-dangerous entity. Meaning she would have to directly create an anchor –the hybrid void, that is-

_Alright. Fine. No fucking merging. _

I _will just have to skip_ _this part and directly create the meeting-point without blowing myself first_; she thought exasperatedly, _no pressure. Really._

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes again.

Softly, she coerced her magic into constructing an internal space-distorting void. She thanked Snape, even if he was a dick about it, for previously training her in the basics of manipulating internal space-time magic, if only a little, but it gave her an edge of how directing her magic to proceed.

It complied, though begrudgingly. A small dark sphere started forming in the chakra gate –the later surprisingly adjusting to it, but then again chakra wasn't as wild as magic- and continued to expand steadily till it reached a satisfying size. It looked like a black hole of ominous nothingness with slight flashes of light magic here and there. But it will do.

Beads of sweats rolled down her temples and she started breathing heavily. It was taking a toll on her young body but she had to finish the process. She linked a small loose of chakra in the hole and another of magic and watched them circle each other. As expected, her magic; outside of her host's body (as technically the void was another separate dimension) and not threatened with the possibility of chakra hurting her host either, didn't kick any fuss and simply moved in sync with the chakra.

The interwoven chakra-magic in the void was probably the closest link she could hope to achieve and while it wasn't decisive and it might collapse on itself, it was still the safest situation so far.

She fed the hole a good deal of both her chakra and magic and watched them join in a explosion of colorful fireworks and bright waves together. It was … beautiful.

She let out a deep sigh of relief. She won't be able to use her magic for a while until the link was completed –which might take days or even weeks- Her magic would still be untamed and she would have to learn how to convert an entity to another or make them converge together, whatever works. But at least now, it was not fatally dangerous to her anymore.

Well, much.

.

Then, she faltered.

Someone was approaching rapidly.

Abandoning her task momentarily –shockingly enough, things were going rather smoothly, a first!- with her anchor-building and she might even say that her magic was, ah, willing to compromise as it behaved rather nicely-, she violently propelled herself away then opened her eyes,_ just_ in time to see a figure slowly emerge from the dark depth of trees. _I should be home by now_, she thought absentmindedly as she regarded warily the incomer.

And then she blinked.

_This is not Konoha's leaf symbol on his hitai-ate. _Was her first thought which was followed shortly by: _Figures I would have attracted an enemy the second I decide to ditch warm dinner and cozy home for the sake of fixing my internal mess. _So_ lucky._

Because there was no doubt, he was an enemy. The killing intent rolled off him with a single-minded intensity, all directed at her.

'Well well, what do we have here? A little girl out of her home in such a late hour?'

Maybe she should scream? She was sure someone would be alerted and would come to her rescue. Except she didn't need one. And she was curious.

_Maybe I will conduct some experimentation, after all._

Then he lunged.

As she scrambled away from him and jumped a few meters away, she finally recognized the Kumogakure hitai-ate. Great, just great.

Why would Kumo ninja attack a member of Konoha? And how exactly did he get in anyways? Better yet, why was he targeting _her_? Then she remembered what was being currently a pain in the backside for everyone in Konoha. The war. Of course. The fucking war. They were in warring times, what were they calling it again? Ah yes, the Third Shinobi World War. It had started a few months ago with the attack of Iwagakure on Konoha's border. This was followed by Kumogakure joining the party against Konoha (what's with the hate against Leaf?) and contributing to the massacre of the leaf-nin population. Since then, things hadn't gotten better. Soon enough, she recalled her father's word; because of ninja shortage, Konoha would be dispatching fresh-from-the-academy genin and chunin for patrols and guarding. Or maybe for cannon folder. Hmm, the later probably. They would be no more than cattle ready for massacre.

She was perfectly aware of that little tidbit of information.

After all, she knew _intimately _leaders' strategies in conflicts' times and the mechanisms of defense/attack. Which, unfortunately, didn't seem to differ much from the ones in her original world.

As she dodged a swipe from his sword, she pondered on how to deal with him.

_Now would be a great time to see that progress you were boasting about all week long, Rei. S_he thought cynically; while it was true she was getting stronger; she wasn't delusional enough to think that she might be able to take on an obviously trained Jounin-level shinobi. Her five year old body wouldn't even be a match for half blind chunin, let alone a fully trained killer.

Add to that, she was feeling a bit light-headed and her cramped body was so fucking _slow._

Nevertheless, she wasn't too worried; she knew she had the advantage: the bastard seemed to be playing with her, mocking her with his purposely-prolonged attacks in a parody of a fight. That begged the question of who exactly would be sending a shinobi of his caliber to kill a measly brat? No, she realized shortly after, a measly _sharingan-activated clan heiress_ brat. Apparently, asking for anonymity was too much these days.

Hn, that explained the assassin's presence.

Still, it was a bold move. They had to think she was a serious threat to decide to eradicate her so soon and at such a young age. The fact they hadn't decided to kidnap her and use her was telling enough on itself.

Her eyes bled red.

_She was a target._

In other words, her family might be in danger. _Itachi might be in danger._

As the blade closed on her, she looked on the face of her soon-to-be-victim. And smiled.

_Which also means that she didn't have to play nicely._

Then she flickered away.

_._

.

Rei was late.

The unease that was brewing inside him heightened. Rei was never late to dinner. Especially when their Oto-san was present. She might skip breakfast or lunch but never dinner. She knew the consequences. Their presences were obligatory in the room. Itachi knew this because he was always making sure his Onee-san was taking care of herself, as he often insisted for her to sit with them at the table and eat; instead of running god-only-knows-where.

Something was wrong.

He shifted slightly, then glanced at the tense form of his father. The later was irritated: to dare to violate one of their many traditions (in this case, missing a 'family' dinner) and not immediately report to him her training progress was punishable. Not harshly, of course; but still, Rei was in trouble.

In deep trouble.

She better had a good reason for ditching them all. But he didn't think she would do it intentionally; she wasn't the kind to look for troubles; though, he admitted reluctantly, she seemed to have vastly changed meaning that there was always the possibility of her playing a prank. These days, he was never sure how to act or react around her. She wasn't the same anymore and it deeply troubled him that he couldn't read her at times. It might have to do with her activation of the sharingan but he didn't think it would provoke such a drastic, if a bit subtle, personality change. Sometimes, she seemed older, wiser beyond her young years and he felt like she was getting further and further away from him. And there was nothing he could do about it. And that unsettled him.

Had he been any other normal almost-two-years-old boy, he wouldn't have noticed the faint yet distinctive changes nor the elusive danger that seemed to permanently gravitate around his Nee-san lately. He would be probably preening at his not-so-perfect-anymore sister and vying for his father's attention. Thankfully, he was above such childish attempts.

Except maybe when he wanted _his_ Aneki's attention.

.

It crossed his mind that soon enough Rei would be dispatched to the war's fronts. His father had been going on and on to his Oka-san about the new decision of their _veneered_ (Itachi wasn't deaf to the bite in his father's words) Hokage-sama concerning the insufficient number of messengers: sending genin and chunin for the task. His father was offended that the Hokage hadn't included him in the assembly concerning the new policies. Not that Fugaku cared about the well-being of his fellow shinobis but the main problem remained that he had been excluded from the council meeting.

His mood, from then, had plummeted down when he noticed Rei's absence.

Itachi didn't really care about all that; the only thing that he took into consideration was the possibility of his sister, once after graduation, going away from him and leaving him alone. While he understood the necessity of such an endeavor, it didn't mean he had to accept it. His Nee-san was going to war. And she might not come back alive.

He scowled slightly at his taiyoki, unconsciously mirroring his sister's expression when dissatisfied.

Once he started training, he had to make sure to get stronger and jump rapidly through the ranks. He needed to be able to protect his sister from all dangers. From herself, too. God only knows what kind of troubles she would be getting into.

Again, he was reminded by the empty seats at his left that Rei was late. That something was wrong.

Throwing all caution away, he got up from his seat ignoring his Oka-san's questioning glance and his father's exasperated one and then took his leave.

After all, he had a Nee-san to find.

.

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* * *

The mission was supposed to be easy.

Get in, kill the brat, and get out. Nothing more, nothing less. Getting past the guards at Konohagakure gates had been tricky but there was a reason the higher-up chose him for this job specifically, he was the best when it comes to Infiltration and Reconnaissance. Had he been anyone else among his colleagues, he was sure they would have gotten caught the second they set up a foot on Konoha's borders.

He sneered slightly. Useless newbies, the lot of them. Some were truly pathetic and he often had to resist the urge to decapitate the weak things. Still, he ought to kill them all if some of them were still squeamish about killing children, though. This was fucking war. Any potential threat had to be eliminated, especially if it came from that damned Uchiha clan. They were being way too comfortable in their illusory power. And what with them wiping most of the Kumo forces, the decision to deal with the clan heir had come prematurely. A vindictive smirk came upon his scarred lips. He would_ thoroughly_ enjoy the kill.

But first, he had to find the target.

From what he had gleamed these last days, the girl would be training from noon to sunset in either ground four, seven or eight. He might catch her before and deal with her immediately. A single kunai, or even a shuriken, would suffice. Except, he was a man who took great joy in toying with his preys. And if they were children… _all the better._

Grinning savagely, he approached the single chakra point emanating from ground four. It was pulsating steadily; the brat might be meditating. He was proven right when he approached her and her signature spiked wildly. She had sensed him.

Making a show to approach her slowly, he got his first look at his target.

_Unnatural eyes._

That was his first thought as he gazed upon the small girl. He distantly recalled that most Uchiha had dark, almost black, eyes. Yet, the clan heiress seemed to diverge from the norm. There was something deep and dark about that viridian green. Something that shouldn't exist; and it gave him the distinct impression that whatever was standing before wasn't completely … human.

He shook his head; he was getting too old for this kind of shit. He noticed that she didn't seem all that worried even when her gaze landed on his hitai and widened slightly. Pathetic. The little bitch was being purposely obtuse or what? If he was her, he would have screamed bloody murder by now.

Well, might as well have a little fun.

He unsheathed his sword and swung it viciously toward her. The girl dodged him rather skillfully for someone so young yet her features remained inexpressive. She didn't seem to be aware of the danger she was in. Arrogant, the lot of those Uchiha. Thinking that they were above mankind or something. That would be the death of them.

Yet, he couldn't help but think that the Uchiha before him wasn't to be taken lightly. Maybe because everything had gotten quiet around, maybe it was the uncaring, strange aura surrounding the girl or maybe it was the abnormal glow in her eyes. Whatever it was, he felt a certain degree of agitation that had been only felt one time. Once when he was young and foolish, before he had gotten ambushed and permanently scarred, that is. That same feeling, no, warning rung bell. Only this time, it was worse, much worse. And it was all emanating from the deceptively-demure Uchiha girl.

Well, change of plans.

Sneering openly now, he lunged on her. At first, he was planning to play with her a little; cut off her scrawny arm or put her in a nightmarish genjutsu before delivering the finishing blow. Except now his instincts were urgently telling him to eliminate the threat immediately. Never mind the threat was a child barely able to manipulate chakra correctly. Prodigy or not. And the instincts of a seasoned shinobi are never wrong.

Her eyes finally blazed with the red of the Sharingan in answer to his killing intent, black tomoe slowly spinning in a hypnotic dance. And yet in the same her red _fiery _eyes become … cold. Dead.

Something was _wrongwrongwrong_

Just as his sword was an inch away from her neck. She … smiled. And her eyes were still dead. That red so _coldcoldcold_

Then she disappeared right before his eyes.

Before the thought actually registered in his mind –_that the monster was gone, poof nothing here and how was it possible, no chakra use he sensed nor a genjutsu either howhowhow- _he felt her appear behind him. But as he frantically swerved his blade around him, the only thought that resonated inside him-

_Too late._

Then he knew no more.

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_Well, that was fast._

It felt like an eternity since the last time she saw so much blood on a single body. It brought memories of flames and ice, hollow skulls and green light.

As she carefully examined the fallen body, blood pouring from his ears and dripping, skull meticulously crushed to pieces and bits of brain splattered on the grass; she thought absently that she could have done a lot better. A lot better, no mess involved for starters. If only her magic wasn't so wild, she thought with mild annoyance.

It had been easy and yet hard in the same time. That apparition trick, she admitted, did practically all the work. Though, she had momentarily worried that she might splinch herself in a more damaging way. She glanced down at her nails and grimaced. They had flown off somewhere and she didn't think it would be much use trying to find them and sticking them on her fingernails. She felt the tips of her fingers pulsating steadily with pain, the pink skin slightly pouring blood from around the edges.

As she sent small bits of magic through her hands, she thanked Kami it wasn't her whole fingers that flew off. She didn't think she would be able to re-grow appendages. She wasn't a healer of _that_ magnitude.

It crossed her mind that perhaps this small experiment of hers could have ended in disastrous consequences. She knew she couldn't completely control her magic outside her body and the process of her anchor-building was still ongoing but she hadn't expected that it might also affect her body outwardly when using it. After all she could heal herself rather easily and expand her magic inwardly to heighten her senses. It stood to reason that she should be able to affect the position of her body when teleporting.

_Apparently not._

She sighed quietly and contemplated the mess before her. Besides that unfortunate minor, for the lack of a better term, splinch; she had managed to deal with her attacker. Though not in the way she had wanted. But that was to be expected. She had the intent to damage some nerves by sending bits of magic coursing through his body and rendering him unconscious. Naturally, her magic deliberately misunderstood her message and just … exploded his head or something. She wasn't sure whether the brain exploded externally or the skull got crushed to death. Maybe both.

Hn, she almost regretted accidentally killing him. Almost. The only reason she had planned to keep him alive was to find out how exactly did he get in. Luck? Spies? Traitors? The possibilities were endless and the thought that Konoha wasn't as impenetrable as she thought, was disquieting.

Add to that, how was she going to explain a dead body in the Uchiha ground to the authorities? Better yet, how was she going to explain the_ means_ to his death? She could leave him here, she supposed and let them investigate. She hadn't used chakra when killing him so his death wouldn't be traced to her. And she doubted anyone would believe a five year old girl taking on a seasoned assassin.

But still, she would be suspected. She was the last one to leave ground four of the training compound; meaning that she might be interrogated.

_I should have stayed in bed this morning._

Frowning slightly, she wondered whether she should just bury the body somewhere and be done with it. But then, how was she to move it? Using a levitating spell was a no-no. She wasn't about to risk her magic misbehaving again and causing more unnecessary problems. Dragging the heavy body was impossible, she would be indubitably seen. Even using a disillusionment charm, if she could, was a liability in itself.

If she could make it disappear, she would. But any feats with magic weren't guaranteed to work. In reality, she should probably avoid using magic all together lest she found herself in more unnecessary troubles, at least until she got around fixing some of its… deficiencies.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she finally came to a decision. Leave the body, that is. There was nothing she could do about it currently. In fact, she thought that it was her best bet. Hopefully, they might lay off her and focus on to find how he got in past Konoha's numerous barriers-

'Nee-san.'

She jerked violently away from the corpse and almost slipped on the blood pooling around it. _What the …_

Whirling around, she came face-to-face with her little brother. Little brother that looked like he had seen a ghost at how he was staring at her.

She hadn't sensed him coming, she had been so focused on the body, so deep in her thoughts that it slipped her mind that she should keep a tight leash on her attention, in her surroundings. She was careless-

_An amateur's mistake._

.. and now she ought to obliviate her brother. Erase the last event from his memories . Then she recalled too late that she had forsaken using magic for the time being. She might kill him if she tried to enchant.

As her thoughts raced, she forced a feeble smile on her face. Though it felt like a grimace to her. She stepped forward, and almost expected to see Itachi go off running or step back in fright. He did neither and remained in his place, silent and observant. His eyes flickered to the body behind and something, too fast for to catch it, flashed in his dark eyes.

'Otouto, what a … timing.' She stared at him, expecting him to say something while her thoughts raced in her mind. 'I, err, you see.. '

He interrupted calmly.

'He was an enemy. From the look of his hitai-ate and the sword in his hand, a Kumo ninja sent here to assassinate you. But it seems you … dealt with him.' A lengthy pause. ' Am I right?'

'Yes?' she regretted it immediately. She could have just denied her involvement in the murder, by being something like an innocent passerby witnessing a cooling corpse in morbid fascination. A bit strange but nothing too far-fetched. But now … _I ought to turn my tongue at least thirteen times before speaking_. However … she didn't know what to think about the fact that her brother had automatically assumed she had been the perpetrator of the crime. Well it was true, but did she give some kind of murderous vibes? She hadn't let out any killing intent for fuck's sake. That level of perceptiveness which he seemed to possess was quite disturbing especially when it was directed at her. But then again he was a genius. So maybe it was a normal thing?

_Yeah, right_. A _normal _thing.

Still, her brother, for a two years old, was taking the situation rather calmly. And that was a good thing, right? She advanced slowly toward him. Frankly, she would have preferred if he hadn't seen such an image of blood and death at such a young age. But what's done is done. She just hoped it wouldn't negatively affect him in any way.

Then she felt a familiar signature approaching. An Uchiha by the look of it.

_Fuck._

'Itachi, I want to ask a favor of you.' She said bluntly. There was no time for a lengthy conversation. She paused slightly and considered her words carefully; her brother wasn't to be underestimated. Not with that sharp mind of his. 'I killed him, as you see, and while it was true it was in my right to do, I would prefer for this to stay secret.'

She gauged his reaction. Nope, nothing. She continued hurriedly:

'You see, it seems, my Sharingan is more advanced than what most think and permitted me to deal the finishing blow to him. However, my abilities should stay hidden as I, ah, do not think it's a wise idea to-

Was it her or was she seeing two Itachis standing before her?

Then, her fatigue came crashing down on her and she slightly swayed. That was when she figured out her little stunt with magic hadn't been without repercussions. The last thing she saw was the slight widening –finally an expression on that expressionless face!- of Itachi's eyes.

Then she promptly fainted.

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* * *

She had been lying to him.

As he glanced down at his hands, the same hands that caught his Nee-san when she fell; Itachi thought he didn't know whether he should be offended or suspicious at what she said to him. She didn't think he would believe her, did she? While it was true his informations on the Sharingan were a bit limited, it didn't mean he was stupid enough to think that the Sharingan had been particularly implicated during the enemy's death. At least not directly. His head had seemed to have exploded without any internal pressure due to chakra. He hadn't sensed any. So how exactly did he die? Rei hadn't used poison as it would have been apparent to the naked eyes its effects. Add to that, they weren't allowed to carry one anyways, especially one with such a devastating ramification.

She was hiding something.

Maybe a third party had been involved?

He doubted it. Rei hadn't lied when she said she had been the one who killed the Kumo nin, so it must be true. His uncanny ability to distinguish between lies and truth had never failed him especially when it came to his sister. He knew her more than she thought he did as she always seemed to be bewildered whenever he coolly pointed to her some of her inconsistencies-

"Itachi."

The rasping voice of the council elder, Daichi Uchiha, reverberated inside the room in a frigid manner, breaking him from his thoughts and forcing him to meet the calculating gaze of the ancient man.

He was currently in the presence of his father and three council Uchiha Elders; the later coming as soon as they heard the attack on the clan heiress right in their compounds_. Absolutely preposterous. _Their first dubious reaction to the news had been short lived when they witnessed the fallen body of Rei and the unrecognizable corpse of the attacker. Without ado a meeting had been held in the Naka Shrine and the word had gotten to the Hokage that the village had been infiltrated.

That had been seven hours ago. Seven hours Rei had been sleeping soundlessly in her bedroom with no sign of waking up anytime soon.

The alarm had blared the whole night when news had spread of the intrusion and presently the compound was swimming with ANBU operatives and Police Force Uchiha men, each conducting investigations with a hectic frenzy that betrayed the anger the Hokage was feeling. Furious would be an understatement to the current state of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime of Konohagakure. To dare to penetrate the military village in such an audacious manner and slip past countless guards and hunter-nin was insulting at best, calamitous at worst. Suffice to say the whole of the shinobi forces were currently suffering the brunt of the Hokage's anger.

That had been seven hours, fifty three minutes and thirty one seconds ago.

Now, Itachi was being held by the council Elders under the pretense of interrogating him. He had already given his testimony to the investigators –mainly Konoha Intelligence Division operatives- and had been declared free of suspicions. There was really no need for the _esteemed _Uchiha Elders to call for a meeting with him.

"We believe your sister is under the questionable probability of having awakened a new bloodline limit. An impossibility in itself that we are forced to consider despite numerous agents pointing against the opposite."

Itachi hadn't revealed to anyone that Rei had purposely killed her assailant; however it hadn't deterred the Elders from coming to the conclusion of a new power emerging from his sister. Itachi might have believed them if it wasn't for the fact there had been no chakra use indicating a new bloodline limit. _None._

"As such, we would like to appoint a mission of utmost importance. You are young but capable of handling it, we are sure."

Itachi remained silent.

"We order you to observe Uchiha Rei from now on and report to us her every deeds, every incidents and every possible developments. As she might be a danger to herself and to others, we would monitor her closely and supervise any advancement she might display."

In other words, they want him to spy on her.

"Do you accept this mission, Uchiha Itachi?"

Well it was fortunate two can play this game.

"Of course, Daichi-sama. I would be honored."

And he wasn't planning to lose.

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* * *

She was awake before she knew it.

As she stared unblinkingly at the ceiling, awareness slowly returning to her, she tried to remember the aftermath of her passing-out –how shameful, she never passed out _ever_ where was the endurance when you need it?- and didn't come out with much.

She was in her room, lying on that persistently hard mattress. She wouldn't put it past her father to purposely choose the hardest bed in existence under some kind of pretense of "getting used to the shinobi life earlier by avoiding unnecessary indulgences."

It was clear by now that plan A – aka leave the corpse and deny everything if asked- had been foiled before even beginning. Itachi must have alerted her family by coming to look for her and well things are probably going down to drain currently.

Itachi might have spilled the beans or might not have. Hopefully, his brotherly affection might overpower his common sense (in this case doing any what sensible person should do and be honest with their family). But then again, what use would it be? She had been in the crime scene when found, and obviously, people are going to wonder.

It's never a good thing when people start to wonder. Especially if it was the wrong kind of people.

Outside, the heavy rain was falling in an unrelenting barrage of water needles being aimed at the hellish world like projectiles straight from the heavens and she pitied whoever poor soul happened to be currently suffering under such a freezing shower. Such a violent rain in the middle of August in Konoha was an unheard of. Glancing at the sky, she was reminded of the cold comforting rain of London. She missed her old world, not necessarily everything in it but only the comforting weight of familiarity she was used to. Here in this shinobi world, she felt like an abnormal alien seeking refuge in the most inopportune time with the most unfortunate people.

Blinking away her depressing thoughts, she sighed quietly and wondered.

Obviously she wasn't going to reveal to them she was a witch and had assassinated the Kumo-nin using magic by magically exploding his head. _Gosh, that sounds funny in unfunny way_. She would be sure guaranteed a trip to the local mental hospital if she did. Her story was as improbable as ridiculous, only someone truly living under a rock would even consider giving claim to her sayings. So no revealing her little dirty secrets for now. In fact, she was planning to keep denying everything thrown her way, it shouldn't be too hard as she didn't think anyone would be partial to the idea she had managed to catch (kill) an enemy inside the village right under the nose of phenomenal ninjas.

Yep, she was that awesome. And nope, sarcasm was allowed in this situation.

Stretching her arms, she slowly sat on her mattress then winced at the feel of groggy limbs. You'd think she had run a marathon or something; it seems she really had to lay off any use of magic for now. Unless she wanted to be spectacularly blown apart by her own magic. An exotic way to die, that's for sure.

Well, maybe not, she amended; she did create that damned anchor for a reason. Basically, her magic shouldn't be able to harm her nor permanently damage her in any way as long as that meeting point between chakra and magic exists.

Hopefully.

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She could feel the signature of her mother and father … and a whole bunch of others. The council Elders, she realized shortly. She could still recall the slimy aura of Daichi Uchiha even days after her first meeting with him, directly after her awakening of the sharingan. They had been spouting that same non-sense of her "focusing on keeping the clan's supremacy and welfare strong" whatever that means and of course "the future of the Uchiha rests on your shoulders, young Rei." And some other annoying things she hadn't been particularly paying attention to. It was still the same usual bullshit delusional old people spout whenever they got nothing to do besides establishing ludicrous clan laws and by that making your life a living hell.

Though, the fact they bothered to move from their smelly seats and directly come to her house instead of waiting for her to wake up and have a formal meeting was telling on itself.

Trouble is_ just_ around the corner.

.

The strong one doesn't always win, Mad-Eye used to say in an attempt to raise spirits during the Wizarding war, but it is paradoxically true nevertheless as in fact at a more shrewd contemplation, the one who wins in fact is strong. Drilled mentality since forever, strength should not be merely a predetermined destiny set to predict the outcome of a battle yet to begin. The Uchiha clan, wielder as they are of a superior birthright, should know this better than most— as their prided Sharingan leaves them sightless most of the time as their advantage wears on in battle. And yet, with their inherent complacence and a forgotten history of their own almost-extinction, they place themselves on a pedestal, believing themselves invincible and placing those they deem with merit as purely their tools.

Fools, the lot of them.

Do as you're told, deliver on what is needed from you, and when you are lagging behind, you can be replaced.

That was how things are.

Again, she entertained the possibility of escaping their clutches by getting away from this place. She didn't have to stay here; she was more than capable of taking care of herself and anyone else if she did consider taking Itachi with her. This wasted life, here in a warring time amidst a power hungry clan, wasn't for her. She would be suffocated trying to blend when she knew she won't. Freedom was something she always sought and she could attain it if she tried hard enough.

Indeed, it would be so _easy_ to just … disappear.

Her eyes flashed red for a moment.

Except that would be taking the coward's route.

And while Rei Potter had been many things – a murderer, a manipulator in time of need, a cunning snake in lion's skin-, there was one thing she would never be, it was a _coward_.

Not now, not ever.

Hence, she would have no choice but to forge her path here in this blood matted world with or without aid.

The clan was but a pebble stone in her passage compared to what awaits her (because she was sure it would be much much worse), and while it was true she was currently too young to have any radical effect on the systematic Uchiha way everything was run by; it didn't mean she was helpless or useless, she was the clan heiress. And a clan heiress' duty was always to better her clan's way… just not the way they planned it.

If she would have nine lives and would live to be as stubborn as a cockroach, then so be it.

But once she set her foundations in this damned clan and ingrained her metaphorical roots deeply enough…

There was nothing that would make her stop from changing everything.

_Nothing._

She would make sure of it.

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* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

This chapter was particularly hard to write. Took me some time actually. I keep rewriting it and every single time I keep feeling 'this is not how it was supposed to turn out'. Go figure. Anyway, I hope I didn't confuse you too much with that whole anchor thingy, it's a bit complicated and even I found some difficulty explaining the concept. But yeah, it will have a role later, you will see soon enough.

As you noticed, the time frame is between the preparations for the war and during it. I made some small changes (if any did notice, point it out in your review!) to fit with the current story but nothing major would happen until much _much_ later.

And no that attack wasn't random. There's a reason for every events, small or big, that happens in this story. Reminder: this is an AU!

Besides that, thank you all for every reviews, followings, and favorites.

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	4. The Four of Swords

**Disclaimer: So. **_Not Mine._

**Warning**: Language.

**Note**: None of this is beta-ed.

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**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Four**

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** The Four of Swords**

_**This is the "meditation" card. The card advises the Querent that they need to get away, rest, recuperate. The card indicates that the Querent has been facing mental or emotional stress, arguments, misunderstandings or verbal abuse, or that they're ill or injured. A healing retreat is needed, time to clear the head, heart and soul, or just fix a damaged body.**_

_._

_._

_Severus Snape looked down at his sixth year students with distinctive dislike. Right under his nose - he'd put them there years before - were Granger and Longbottom, his brightest student and the dullest boy he'd ever had the displeasure of teaching. He hoped he'd been thoroughly successful in putting Longbottom off creating any kind of potion for as long as he lived. There were more than enough charlatans in the Wizarding world, and potion making tended to attract those with little power and no talent. Longbottom had yet to get through a term without a poisoning, an explosion or a destroyed cauldron. In a good term he could manage all three. However he was now Slughorn's mess to deal with. Still, he must most assuredly be put off creating anything which might escape into the water supply. Snape's eye moved on. _

_Granger. Too clever for her own good, that one. Though from what he gathered, not as on par in Defense Against the Dark Arts as the two others._

_Next to her, Potter and Weasley. This Weasley was without his twin brothers' casual malice, but was content to slide through school just getting by. What a waste of a mind. Potter he dragged down with him. _

_Potter. Dumbledore's golden girl. Everything bounced off Potter from Voldemort's curse to threats to punishments. She didn't lack her dead father's effortless brilliance nor her mother's sharp mind, but could make a better wizard if she worked. Which she did. But only when it suited her._

_He scrupulously ignored the politics basics he had the unfortunate displeasure to promise –coughvowcough- to teach the bratty girl in a week time or so. His lips curled in distaste and tried to ignore the unease she roused in him._

_The girl had changed._

_Dumbledore thought it was nothing to be worried about, that if anything, she was merely reaffirming her convictions to fight the Dark Lord with renewed vigor. The fool. He wouldn't declare that if he had seen the girl viciously tear apart her training dummies with all the enthusiasm of a new-born bloodthirsty killer. Nor would he state that she was simply trying to reach her potential if he had seen her pour over dark arts books like a woman starved for revenge._

_And starving for revenge, she was. That mutt's death seemed to have affected her more than intended and she was barely making any efforts to conceal it._

_If anything her demand to the Headmaster that he'd teach her Wizarding politics should have rang bells, but apparently the foolish old man, which was becoming more senile by the second, had welcomed her heartfelt –he sneered slightly at the reminder of her demure performance before the headmaster- proposition with a rather peculiar zea.l And of course he tasked Severus with that particular mission. Plus the goddamn Occlumens lessons which, unsurprisingly, seemed to go nowhere._

_And wasn't that already headache inducing._

_._

_._

"_You don't really strike me as a marionette."_

_The out of the blue statement made her pause. The spell she sent toward the three dummies continued to burn however, in an deceptively unrepresentative bluish color, the smell of burnt wood filling the training room contrasting sharply with the alluring scent of the jasmine-scented candles. She was slightly confused at the later before she remembered that Luna loved charming the candles each day with different scents depending of 'the spirits' mood'. Whatever that was supposed to mean._

_She glanced over the other six pulverized dummies, noting dispassionately that her timing was faster this time around. Good._

_She finally turned toward the speaker, and was unsurprised to find Theodore Nott standing in the embracing shadows like he belonged there._

_And maybe he did, she thought._

"_I could say the same to you." She pointed out with a dangerously sweet smile. _

_He hummed slightly, with no real answer as he stared at her patiently. Dark eyes briefly lingered on her wand before flickering to meet her eyes expectantly._

_Her relationship with Theodore Nott was a strange one. More than acquaintances but less than friends; barely tolerating each other and only for the sake of reaching a common goal, she knew –because who didn't?-that he would stab her in the back in a second if he had any inkling of what she was plotting. Her teeth clenched slightly when his words came back to her. A marionette, huh?_

_Facing him fully, she smiled pleasantly. He didn't blink as he started, his voice a dry monologue that would have been aggravating if she hadn't gotten used to it by now:_

"_I've been thinking-_

"_Sounds like an ominous idea already." Her sarcastic quip went largely ignored._

_-that your persuasion of the Headmaster to teach you politics is masterful but .. ultimately futile. "His significant pause was probably supposed dramatic nevertheless she barely blinked at his demeaning proclamation. "Regardless, if you become proficient in enough, ah, mind games, I wouldn't try to go play with the higher up pureblooded wizards in a chess board already tipped favorably toward them. We wouldn't our savior accidentally promising themselves to someone, now would we?"_

_Red lips stretched as they opened to let out a drawling statement, reminiscent of her dear ex-potions professor:_

"_My, aren't you quite the judgmental one today, Nott?"_

_He didn't dignify that with an answer but merely observed with his dark soulless stare, like he was watching a particular stubborn insect that hadn't been recorded yet in common books; and she was distinctly reminded why she usually avoided him like the plague. God forbid she had to see him more times than necessarily. Though why he had to seek her now to simply offer her his, ah, ultimately useless advise was anyone's guess. _

_She mulled over his words, and considered the fact that while he might be right, it wasn't exactly the reason she had wanted to know more about politics. And she let him know exactly that:_

"_Well, I'm touched by your concern; you're wasting your breath. I had no desire to mingle with wizards, if anything I'm more than aware that most of them had chosen the typical route and fled the country while the others had chosen to side with Voldemort." She ignored his flinch at the name but couldn't help but derive a particular satisfaction at his followed cringe. Then he stepped away from her like she might be a holder of a mortal disease. If anything that only served to amuse her more. She continued on: "You see my interest in politics is strictly academic so there's no need for you to worry your pretty little head over it." She smiled sweetly at him._

_In answer he finally glared at her, exasperated: "This isn't-_

_-a game." She interrupted him again." I know, and I don't expect you to understand my motives should I chose to reveal them." Her green eyes were dangerously glacial." I play my role and you play yours. Whatever I chose to do in my free time does not concern you and I would appreciate if you'd stay away from my business."_

_He looked like he had swallowed something sour with the way he was eying her, and like he might hex her with a lovely reducto aimed to her throat. Just in case she twirled her wand softly, letting a glimpse of an otherworldly green glow envelop the tip of her wand. He was treading on thin ice and she was letting him know it._

_Unexpectedly, he finally just shrugged:_

"_Alright then. Whatever you're plotting, I want no part in it. If you plan to engage in … unsavory associations, I'm not stopping you as long as you're not putting our arrangement in danger. "He gazed at her clinically: "Though, I have the feeling that in either way, I'm bound to get involved."_

_She let out a yielding laugh then-_

"_Pity I would have bet that you have have loved the excitement."_

"_How predictable, coming from a Gryffindor."_

"_Says the Slytherin consorting with the said-Gryffindor." He snorted incredously at that and retorted:_

"_Not quite the term I'd use, Potter. Do try again."_

_Then he sobered up and sighed quietly, almost physically repelled by the troubles she would undoubtedly bring to him. Ha. Such a slytherin reaction she couldn't help but chuckle. _

_Pity. She'd like to think that while they weren't particularly chummy with each other, it didn't mean that it was really all that intolerable to deal with. Though, if he could lay off that absurdly stuck-up, conceited attitude, she would be much more accommodated to engage him amicably. Not that it would stop her from teasing him either way._

_And well-_

"_My, was that worry I just felt in your words? The fact I might accidentally play in someone else's hand bothers you that much?" She added: " I feel truly warmed." The sarcasm was literally dripping off her words, but then so was his reply._

"_Only for you, darling."_

_._

* * *

_._

Rei loved politics.

Okay, fine; that was a bold faced lie.

She absolutely … abhorred it. She was moderately good at playing its 'diplomat' game (Snape had been quite the slave driver when it came to teaching her the intricate, complex, brain-breaking political affairs but then she _did_ ask for it) true but it didn't mean she had any particular fondness toward mindfucking with someone. She learned the hard way that just because you want to learn something, doesn't mean you would _keep_ wanting to learn it. During the war, she often had to form alliances with potential allies or deal with unruly parties, Snape called it negotiating. Such an innocent word that didn't betray the awful headache it brought her whenever she had to 'negotiate'. Finally she figured, it often had to do more about how much power (whether financial, magical or political) you got and less to do with _what _you do with it.

In fact she might even say that in some cases there was nothing happening like negotiation but more like' intimidation till you submit' tactic. And as she stared at Uchiha Daichi-'sama', she thought that the later was more befitting to what was currently in play.

"I don't think I quite understand." With that, she forced a trembling smile on her lips. She had to play the innocent, she reminded herself forcibly, don't let them guess what you think and act like a relatively normal five-years old when confronted with the accusation of having awakened a new bloodline limit… There was no other way to phrase it:

She was in deep shit.

As she quickly surveyed the room, noting with mild annoyance the preening look on her father and the tense form of her mother, she mused that of all things she had been expecting, being accused of awakening a new bloodline limit hadn't been in the agenda. In fact, she had expected to deal with the doubtful allegation of dabbling in voodoos and whatnot since, from what she recalled once her father helpfully enlightened her of the situation, there had been _no _evidence of any chakra use during the enemy's death.

So how exactly did they come to the conclusion that it was due to a new kekkai genkai?

She resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose in aggravation. But then again, what was she expecting? It wasn't like there was any other logical explanation either; maybe they think I used an invisible impossible-to-sense chakra, she thought sarcastically, wasn't too far from the truth, actually.

She pressed her lips in a thin line when she noticed the silent exchange between Daichi and Fugaku. The later briskly started:

"It might come as a shock for you but the careful investigation led by Uchiha Raito had denoted the possibility of a new power coming into play; it is nothing we have seen before but Tsunade-san is currently inspecting the body for further clues on what might have exactly happened." He paused slightly then he seemed to hesitate but a glare from the clan elder had him continue: "However, we are entertaining the possibility of a chakra evolution from your part."

Daichi-sama interrupted him coolly:

"It sounds far-fetched we are aware, but from what we had gathered from the scene of crime and the body itself; there was no other plausible explanation other than a new dojutsu." A sharp pause then with disdain compressed in each word: "Is there anything we should know, Uchiha Rei?"

_Other than you're a dick, no nothing really_. She clamped her mouth shut lest she let out something she'd soon regret. Instead, she considered this new development she had to deal with.

When she had woken up from her 'coma', they had immediately sent for a medic-nin to check on her both physically and mentally. She had played the part of a frightened child perfectly, if she had to say to herself, though the unimpressed look on Itachi's face showed that she hadn't fooled him in the least. _Well, he doesn't count anyways_, she thought childishly. The verdict had been surprising but not completely unexpected. _Chakra depletion with little mental scarring. Her mind is strong._ Her father had been proud. You'd think he'd be a bit more worried for her health. Then without much ado, she had been called to the Konoha Intelligence Division main building where she had been bombarded with questions.

_No, I don't know what happened._

_I didn't do anything._

_No I don't know why his head exploded. _

_Yes I tried to defend myself._

_No I did not know him and have never seen him before in my entire life._

It felt like an eternity before they finally let her out. It hadn't been Ibiki Morino who questioned her –the rumored Interrogation monster- but a certain Yamanaka Inoichi with eyes too sharp for his own good. Initially, they had planned to invade her mind and find whatever they were looking for through this method but the clan elders had flat out refused to let anyone close to her mind in risk of endangering the clan's interests so they had settled for normal questioning. Plus, this world's legilimens or mind walking, as they named it, had also a high chance of damaging a child's mind if not performed carefully. And since the Uchiha didn't trust anyone outside the clan, they hadn't stood for the practice on her, even for research/investigation purposes.

She had been beyond relieved when she found out she wouldn't have to deal with that peculiar method of interrogation. She hadn't taken in account the existence of mind-walkers in this dimension. Still she had put her Occlumens walls when she had to answer Yamanaka-san's numerous questions, and yet the slight glint in the later's eyes made her think that he was aware of something she didn't.

In hindsight, she really should avoid getting in these kind of situations. She could already read the recipe of disaster from far.

There hadn't been any new advancement on the leads and no one knew how exactly did the Kumo nin die. But most ANBU had been more focused on how he got in Konoha and less about the means to his death. The fingers didn't automatically point at her, as she expected no one in their right mind would believe that a five years old girl with barely any professional training might had had a hand into an expert Kumo-nin's death.

Except the fucking clan elders.

Uchiha Daichi had jumped onto the derisory probability, like a damn dog onto a nasty bone, that she might have developed some kind of dojutsu. Goddamn power-hungry mongrel. The old hawk had been keen on forcing an answer out of her. One which, from what Rei had clearly understood, _had to be_ a positive one.

Alas, she would have to disappoint these honorable ladies and gentlemen and pretend that she really had no fucking clue about what they were talking about. Smiling serenely, she noticed from the corner of her eyes, Fugaku twitching nervously at the blatant insolence she was displaying.

"Iie, Daichi-sama, I do not think that it was some kind of freaky dojutsu," she watched amusedly as Daichi Uchiha glared at her, the choice of her words obviously infuriating him, and as if he could force her to reveal her deepest darkest secrets by only through the blackness of his glare. "As a matter of fact, I think I had nothing to do with the Kumo shinobi's demise," She paused noticeably then continued in a confident voice: "I am sure this is just some kind of big misunderstanding from your part-

She didn't have the chance to finish her words as the door to the meeting room burst open and-

She blinked, mildly unsure at what she was seeing.

A dimly-identifiable face appeared, one that was a bit too familiar for her liking, even then as memories ("_hehehe, I got you Rei-chan, told you I would prank ya! Behold the future most powerful-")_ raced in her mind, Rei looked at the boy curiously and reflected that the goggles are a bit outdated in this day and age. The boy had spiky black hair and was wearing an obnoxious smile:

"Oi, Rei-

And promptly stopped when he finally noticed the presences of the others in the adjourning room. An awkward silence ensued; Fugaku stared flatly at the newcomer while Mikoto gazed at him with slight recognizance in her eyes. The elders though-

"Uchiha Obito, what is the meaning of this?" The scathing voice of the only female elder, Seirei Uchiha, was like cutting knife as she zeroed on the now-fidgeting boy.

"Hehehe, Granny-" She bristled at the name but he didn't seem to notice "I, err, am here for Rei…" He trailed off as he sent her a fugitive glance then he seemed to remember his manners and without further delay, he bowed. When he stood up straight again, he cleared his voice and continued awkwardly: "I apologize for the interruption but Hokage-sama wants to see her."

The tense silence would have lasted an eternity as everyone kept glaring to her poor cousin, if Rei hadn't gotten up brusquely, startling everyone and at the dark look she got, she shrugged and answered the unspoken demand: "Well, Hokage-sama is waiting for me, better not to let him wait for long." At that, Obito nodded vigorously and sent her a grateful look.

"The meeting is adjourned." Daichi-sama said stiffly, as if it seems like the words burned his very tongue then he added grimly: "We will speak about this later." And with one last glare at, well, everyone, he swept by the door and was furtively gone, immediately followed by his loyal lackey Uchiha Seirei and the eternally-silent Uchiha Kiyoshi.

Her chichi-hue didn't stay either and still glowering at Obito; he went past him and was gone in a second.

The only one left was Mikoto, still seated; Rei and the awkwardly standing Obito.

"Oh my, Obito-kun, it had been some times since your last visit." Mikoto said tranquilly, barely aware –or maybe choosing to not acknowledge it- of the tense atmosphere. "Would you like to stay for lunch? That would be lovely."

Obito smiled, rather bashfully and answered joyously:

"Maybe another time, Mikoto-san. I got a mission in two hours." He added with a wink toward me: "I would have loved to get a fulfilling taste of your heavenly food but duty is calling. Com'on Rei, wouldn't want to piss off the old man." Mikoto smiled, clearly amused, even as her eyes carefully avoided her daughter's intent look.

She was already going past him when he finished; and she couldn't help but think that his arrival, right when things were getting thorny between the clan members, was convenient. A bit too convenient.

If Rei didn't know any better, she would have thought that someone higher up was using a magic ball to steer events following their liking. She snorted slightly. Like hell magic slash chakra crystalline ball guarantying some kind of omniscience existed here.

.

(Oh, the irony)

* * *

.

.

"Soooooo, Rei," she twitched slightly at the drawling of one pesky Uchiha. "Rumors you killed an enemy, is it true?"

"Rumors you're gay, Obito. Is it true?"

Spluttering madly, he glared at her, clearly offended then he paused, considering: "You're five, do you even know what gay is?"

She opened her mouth to answer-

Then she remembered she was five, and some kids that age can't even speak distinctively; goddamnit she really needed to learn how to tame that tongue of hers. Answering hurriedly, she said the first –admittedly lame- excuse that came to her mind: "No but I heard Tomoe-chan called you that."

Or something.

She watched the boy –believing her half-assed lie, though it wasn't too far from the truth as Tomoe Uchiha did like to sabotage people's reputations for no reason than fun, the bitch - almost stumble in an absolutely ridiculous way, nearly crashing into a wall before regaining his balance precariously and glaring at her. She thought that he looked more cute than threatening.

Uchiha Obito was a bit of a special case in the clan.

Rei didn't exactly understand his status in the clan but from her hazy memories, he could be probably considered the black sheep of the clan, and yet he wasn't. Not exactly. It was a bit all confusing, but Obito was the son of some kind of famous S-class Uchiha nin, that played a big role in the current War before going missing. She didn't know the specifics nor had she bothered to go figuring out, but now she felt curiosity devouring her. Obito was probably one of the few Uchihas who truly seemed to connect with outsiders and was well-liked amongst the general population. Nevertheless, his pranks had gained him a bit of a wicked reputation but still 'fortunately for him' most seemed to take them as a sign 'that there was hope for those emotionless, stone-like Uchihas.'

She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

.

At the still scandalized look on his face, she pushed dramatically: "What's gay? I thought it meant 'happy'. And since, you're happy all the time; I guess you're gay then?" Blinking harmlessly and feeling satisfaction swell up in her as she watched the flushing and stuttering of the idiot, she thought that being five was kind of fun.

When you didn't have the mentality of a nineteen years old war-veteran, of course.

When they finally arrived at the Hokage Tower, she imagined it to be a bit more … majestic. But well, she was in a village; she ought to be realistic. As Obito led her through the door, she looked on inquiringly on the many shinobis going on their business, merrily for some and moodily for others.

It was still baffling to see some people so completely … unique, for the lack of a better term. Back in her world, it was uncommon to see so many … colorful, radically different people gathered in a single place. And it wasn't only about the strange colored hair (she had seen some examples in the muggle world and even the wizarding world wasn't all that normal, to begin with) but also the sheer eccentricity of some. Like that boy with the mask and was … that silver hair? Which also, she noted amusedly, seemed to defy the laws of physics, standing straight and proud –was that even possible without chakra- the boy, around Obito's age, had a mask on hiding the lower part of his face and she fleetingly wondered whether that was some kind of fashion statement.

She almost chuckled at the stupid thought. Ha, ninja and fashion?

She carefully avoided the thought that the barely thirteen years old might have been disfigured in a mission gone horribly, horribly wrong.

.

Obito, noticing the other, immediately stopped and waved at him while shouting quite enthusiastically: "Oii, bastard, come here! Wanna show you something!" the 'bastard' in question glanced at them and seemed to debate whether it was actually worth coming over and consequently gaining a monumental headache caused by the sheer, err, presence of Obito.

The answer was obvious.

In a flash, he was gone.

.

"Bakashi!" the Uchiha was literally fulminating as he glowered at the spot where the silver-haired boy had been before turning brusquely and whispered (loudly): "Don't worry, Rei-chan. He does that to everyone, he's just really shy-

Something fast came flying in a blur of dark green and crashed right on his face. A_ really_ heavy backpack, she realized. The reaction was immediate.

"**Kakashi!"**

_._

_._

"You sure have an interesting teammate."

"Shut up, Rei. Just wait, he's gonna get it, I will beat him so hard he'd stay in the hospital for_ months."_

"Of course you will." He glowered at her, sensing the intentional patronizing tone. She sent him a pleased smirk, which seemed to further aggravate him.

"Why you little brat-

She tuned him out as she pretended to admire the calligraphy on the walls, no, not calligraphy, she took in the complex designs-

_Seals._

I do wonder whether they might be similar to Runes, she thought; feeling excitement well up-

"Ah, Obito!" A short girl came barreling through the doors, looking out of breath then she promptly howled, almost deafening Rei in the process and snapping her out of her thoughts:" What are you still doing here?! We've got to leave the village in _**an hour**_. The mission isn't gonna accomplish itself!"

Obito shrugged: "We still got time-

"_Oh no you don't!_ You remember the last time you said that-

"Hey, that was just, like, one time I _accidentally_-

"Who's this?" she interrupted her teammate as she finally perceived the five years old girl standing slightly behind Obito.

Blinking slightly when she noticed the attention she garnered from the other girl, Rei turned to face her and took in the slight girl. She was probably the same age as Obito, his teammate too, judging by the familiarity between the two of them. She also got some kind of tattoo? She wasn't sure as she observed the red triangle painted strikingly on the girl's face.

I'm sure I'm just missing something very obvious with these nins, Rei thought bemusedly.

Well whatever.

"Uchiha Rei." She introduced herself simply. "And I assume you are Obito's teammate." It was more a statement than a question.

"Hai. I'm Nohara Rin." The older girl smiled at her, a slight worrying glint lit up in her eyes, one that made Rei wary." Obito told me a lot of things about you." A pause. Rei slightly tensed, not sure what to expect. Then without warning, she found herself wrapped in tanned arms that almost squeezed her to death." _Sooo cute!"_

That's it there was definitely something wrong with these nins.

"Err, Rin-chan, I think we should go. We're gonna be late, ya know?" Obito seemed to be itching away from his teammate and mumbling something under his breath which sounded suspiciously like 'crazy' and 'babies' and Rei wasn't sure she heard him correctly but she didn't think she actually wanted to know.

When Nohara 'call me Rin-chan' finally let her go, it was because she was (forcibly) dragged away by Obito, who appeared to be nervously placating the girl and simultaneously waving and shouting an obnoxious goodbye to Rei. She waved back at him and tried to ignore the painful feeling of her cheeks courtesy of being pinched and stretched to infinite, moments ago.

Well that was certainly … interesting.

.

.

Smiling airily, she spoke: "You can come out now."

At first, there was nothing. Then in a fraction, the silver haired boy from earlier was standing before her, eerily staring at her with his grey eyes. She didn't blink at his sudden appearance but rather chirped in an annoyingly cheerful way:

"Please, next time, refrain from staring at me from above. It's quite creepy." She said in an almost mocking tone, then suggested almost as an afterthought:" You can do that from in front of me, if you want."

His eyebrows slightly twitched then in a toneless tone:

"Brat."

"Nice to meet you too." She responded appropriately, unfazed.

He seemed to consider her for awhile and she wondered what was going on in his head. There was intent behind his look, one that seemed to gauge her as one would gauge an opponent. Then:

"Hatake Kakashi."

Then he shunshed away.

.

She gazed at the empty spot and thought-

Yep, definitely something wrong with these nins.

.

* * *

.

It wasn't long before she was standing before the door leading to the Hokage's office. An old woman had been nice enough to lead her to the office and after the way Obito had so blatantly ditched her, she wasn't too keen on getting lost.

She knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter. She was beyond apprehensive; this was the leader of a military village she was meeting, one that might be harder to fool than the others. Leaders' instinct was a dangerous thing after all. She was more than aware of that fact.

Hearing the loud, deceptively jovial 'Enter', she stepped in; hoping for the best but strategically expecting the worst.

The office was large, enough to gather a small assembly. But it was also swarming in papers and scrolls scattered upon the desk facing her. Her senses tingled slightly, feeling ANBU above and the heavy runes –no, seals- entwining in a dangerous combination of _protectprotect-_

An old man with weary eyes but gentle smile, wearing the Hokage Mantle greeted her. She sucked in a breath, a sense of déjà-vu almost hitting her at his sight. She forced herself to remain calm eve_n _as hated memories of_ twinkling knowing eyes, grandfatherly smile and gentle words _threatened to consume her in a mindless rage.

Instead, she took a deep breath, slammed her occlumes walls up and managed to muster the energy to plaster the fakest, most illusory smile on her face; almost breaking her face in two with how much she stretched her smile. Even if it was a bit wobbly, she made it look like she was awe-struck by the power the old man exuded.

Something in her warned to step carefully around the man. Dangerous didn't even begin to cover him.

"Rei-san, I am glad to see you unharmed," he smiled at her, even as his eyes run her over checking for any injuries. Rei could understand the gesture, it wasn't every day a child was attacked by an outsider in one of the most well-protected village of the fire country. Heiress or not.

Her eyes flickered around; almost unconsciously looking for escape routes even if she knew it would be useless. The man before her wasn't one you could get away from easily. An hysterical laugh threatened to break out because how much pathetic could she get, trying to run away at the first sight of an old man with way too gentle,_ too understanding too shrewd- _

Instead of meeting her stupid fears head-on like the fucking Gryffindor she was-

His voice broke her out from her dangerously darkening thoughts: "Are you ill, Rei-san? You seem a little bit out of the weather." Nothing can escape him, she thought dazedly, as she noticed him take note of her perspiration, her tightly clenched fists and trembling form.

She latched on the excuse immediately:

"My apologies, Hokage-sama, I was a bit tired before coming here."

"Don't worry, this won't take long. I simply wish to verify some things." He added then, in an almost teasing manner: "Wouldn't want to keep that cousin of yours waiting all day?"

At first, she stared at him blankly. Who-

_Shisui._

That idiot. He had been following her all day – standing guard when she was in coma, waiting for her in a hidden branch when she got out of DI, trying (and failing) to eavesdrop on the council meeting- but hadn't had the courage of speaking to her, yet. Go figure.

She hadn't gone to confront him, preferring to wait for him to gather enough guts to come and say something, damn it. But the idiot had just persistently stalked her all day long.

"Err, yeah, Shisui. That." She stumbled slightly, because of all things she had been expecting; getting teased about some boy by the most powerful figure in the ninja world hadn't been in the agenda. But then again, he was probably just trying to put her ease at ease. Wouldn't want to frighten the poor child and all that.

She twitched slightly at the thought. Being a child cut down a lot options but in the same time held open doors of all sort of possibilities, though sometimes it was a bit hard to find anything advantageous in her situation.

It was then that the Sandaime got directly to the point, not wasting any more time on trivialities or small talk. She appreciated the gesture, more than he probably ever thought.

"I would like to ask a few questions, concerning the attack. I'd prefer if you could give as many details as you could."

And she did exactly that.

Well obviously she did refrain from disclosing everything, but she didn't exactly … lie.

Then amidst the interrogation, she suddenly wondered why did he have to personally hear her answers, she could bet her wand-arm that all her answers were in a report delivered by that Yamanaka. Her unease heightened as his questions didn't seem to lead anywhere; nothing particularly different from what Yamanaka had already asked.

Feeling something niggle at the back of her mind but unable to pinpoint what exactly was wrong, she continued to answer his questions as concisely as possible. She was honest but she avoided any talk on what caused his death. Her answer 'I don't know' didn't seem to faze him, though. She made sure her act as a mistrustful child held up, prodigy or no;t the consequences of getting suddenly attacked in her home at one of the safest parts of the village, should have a lasting effect on her. Wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea, now would we?

_wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea-_

Then she promptly realized.

_He's suspecting me._

To her credit, she didn't falter in her description of the attacker. She didn't even blink or made any outward expressions. She just carried on calmly.

_He's suspecting me._

Her fingers slightly jerked, though as her thoughts started to race in her mind, her Occlumens helping organizing her views.

What was it? What was enough for him to harbor any kind of suspicious against her?

It wasn't too farfetched to think that he might believe that she was the killer. Moreover, he might follow the route the Uchiha elders had taken and start harboring doubts toward the apparition of a 'new kekkai genkai'. The idea was more repulsive than she thought it would be. While it might have its benefits, she was strangely averse to reducing her magic to a simple _bloodline limit._

Even worse, she didn't know how they would react. Actually, she _didn't_ want to know. They were in wartimes; any kind of advantages would be exploited to the fullest but also experimented on. And she is an advantage. A five year old girl with unknown, possibly limitless, abilities. But also in other words, a danger.

She wasn't stupid; she hadn't lived long in this world, true; but she had enough common sense that she was, is, and would be an unpredictable variable.

And unpredictable things, if not vigilantly monitored or controlled, are generally eliminated.

She was already a target. The Kumo-nin was proof enough. But if words got out that she might have 'developed' a new ability, well … she might as well have signed her death certificate.

The thought was bizarrely amusing; who would have thought that her magic, the very thing that enabled her to survive her, might lead her to an early demise? And not even a worthy one, for that. And with her current setback concerning her lack of control …she might literally be killed due to an unexpected brutal burst of magic. It was almost funny how something as small as, say, explode someone's head (alright maybe it wasn't _small _per say but still) was currently causing ripples with such magnitudes it was causing her migraines to just think about them. She would be forced to tread carefully, even more carefully than before, she had been acutely aware of ANBU following her and observing her since the second she woke up. And it would be trying to shake them off her tails; now that she had to train her magic _all over again_ as to not cause any more, ah, accidents.

How convenient. Not.

A cynical smile painted her lips as she finished concluding her story to the Hokage. The later, barely showed anything by her account. And looking strangely amused.

Well, blasted, old men are to be even _more_ feared _indeed._

As she stood there, feeling slightly small in the too-big-office, she wondered whether he would actually get to the point for the reason of her presence. So she was surprised and understandly suspicious when he simply thanked and dismissed her with a few choices of gentle words, as well as reassure her that nothing of the sort of what she went through would be permitted to happen again. She might have been fooled if it wasn't for the sharp knowing eyes, observing her under the Hokage's hat as she left the office.

.

As she finally got out of the Hokage's tower, a long relieved sigh escaped her. Now she knew how nerve-wrecking it was to deal with a man of such status and power.

What surprised her, however, was how dissimilar he was to _him._

Her hands momentarily tightened before she forced herself to calm down, shoving the memories of an old man with an even older phoenix as his companion _away._

_He _was dead.

And he would remain as such.

.

"Shisui." Her voice, cheerful and definitely not dripping with homicidal urges, called out:"You have three seconds to stop playing the coward and come face me like the idiot airhead we all know you secretly are." The threatening tone was, unsurprisingly, less effective than the insult.

"You little wormy bra-

Despite his offended tone, there was no real bite in his word. If anything, he seemed .. relieved. He stopped whatever he was going to say and then just kept standing, shuffling awkwardly. Like he wasn't quite sure what to do. She frowned slightly as she took time to observe him carefully.

His face looked paler than the norm, and there was some bags under his eyes, betraying his lack of sleep. A restless energy, however, seemed to animate him as he fidgeted around. It was the look in his eyes that made her pause and hold on her biting her reply.

"Are you okay?" His awkward inquiry amused her slightly and then she decided to cut him some slack.

"I'm as fine as I can get," Then she added," Can't really say the same of you though." He shifted slightly but then he seemed to slump, boneless. "You are aware that I was the one almost killed. And yet it looks like you're the one dealing with the… issue." The flippant remark was the wrong thing to say as his eyes grew colder and his form tenser.

And then,

.

_Oh._

_Not good._

The realization that the boy cared, might even –god forbid- have some romantic inclinations toward her, enough anyways to get visibly upset at the attempted assassination on her…. was off putting to say the least. Understandable, of course. But still off putting. It wasn't the thought of having to deal with his affection that unsettled her but rather the consequences that came with it.

As a general rule, Reina Potter didn't go around making friends; part of it was due to distrust (which was nurtured even strongly during the war) while the other, larger part was due to the fact that Rei simply couldn't afford to return the affection. She… knew the value of friendship, of course but to say that she was willing to go far for it would be a blatant lie. One that she used to spew to the old man before he was killed.

The truth is… she is terrified.

To develop friendship and consequently emotional connections to people she might be brought to care about was inevitable (Itachi was a prime example, one she had against her better judgment taken him under her wing) but it didn't change the outcome. Death is the only thing that has ever surrounded her and is the only thing that was ever left at the end. She didn't want that. Not when she could barely keep herself alive, not when she didn't know who were her enemies or where are her allies and certainly not when the wound of _their _betrayal, even as justified as it was, is still scorching and still digging and digging into her soul so she wouldn't forget -they wouldn't let her forget-

She took a sharp breath, feeling something like fire, almost physically constricting her heart, flash through her before she forced herself again back, away from_ them,_ to rigid control. To careful, logical thoughts. To the present.

She smiled at Shisui, a small smile that seemed to alert him that something wasn't quite right.

And then she was gone.

.

.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Well at least there's no cliffhanger this time.

By the way I got a one shot-ish side fic to this story "and all that followed fell (like mercury to hell)" that I will post in a few days, it's actually a little (okay actually a lot) different from what I usually write. As in the writing style (in second pov by the way, a first for me!) is a bit more poetic, darker and sadder. With a lot of feelings and … feelings. Kinda depressing too. But oh well I was in the mood for something angsty. It's mostly just a small experiment of mine, still, check it out.

Note: If there's any sort of mistakes, I'd really love for you to point it out to me. I edited most parts but I'm sure some typos or something might have escaped my attention.

Next chapter: Shisui's POV, more politics and the appearance of one of the Sannins.

.


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